Geneva teens collect items for Hurricane Ike victims

In gift-giving, it is said it's the thought that counts.

Geneva High School students and staff members took up a collection of food, toiletries and cleaning supplies Friday for victims of Hurricane Ike in the southern states.

The last-minute drive was organized by the school this week, and members of its Leos Club volunteered to man the carts at the front entrance before school.

The Leos are a junior affiliate of the Lions Club service organization.

"We're just trying to help out nationwide and locally as much as we can," said Leo Amy Herscheway, a senior.

Fellow club member Sabrina Scanlan, a junior, said the club has sold candy to raise money to buy a guide dog, and collected money and items for victims of wildfires in California.

Friday's collection will be driven to Houston as part of a larger collection organized by the president of a Chicago online marketing firm.

Hurricane Ike struck the United States Sept. 13, including the island of Galveston, Texas. Up to 2 million people were left without electrical power in Texas; several thousand still don't have service. Nearly 300 Texans have been reported as missing since the storm hit.