Richardson ISD TA raising funds for Robb Elementary teachers for school supplies

DALLAS - A longtime teacher assistant at Wallace Elementary in Dallas has helped to raise more than $6,100 for the families of victims in Uvalde.

The Richardson ISD TA is from Uvalde and attended Robb Elementary School as a child. Now, he is working to make sure teachers have what they need to start over. 

As a TA at Richardson ISD’s Wallace Elementary for 26 years, the news of the mass shooting days before summer began hit Frank Gomez hard. He attended Robb Elementary as a child from first through fifth grade and still has family and friends connected to the victims. 

"Her husband. I went to school with his brothers," he said.

Gomez went back to visit Uvalde last month.

"I went by the cemetery. My parents are buried there. And to see so many small graves and so many people on Father's Day weekend, it was very hard," he said.

As the Wallace Elementary School marquee shows, Gomez along with the PTA recently raised more than $6,100 for families of the victims. 

"As days went on, I talked to the teachers and realized all the fundraisers were for the kids and families," he said. "And I thought what about the teachers? How are they going to get restarted?"

With Robb Elementary now closed, Gomez says about 30 teachers will be starting from scratch. 

"Couple of weeks ago, they were allowed to go back into the building to get their things. Some of them did. Some could not go back in there, and that is understandable," he said.

Gomez has set up a GoFundMe to purchase classroom decorations and other items on teachers’ Amazon wish lists.

"We want to have the visuals up so they will be excited to learn," he said. "They will be nervous and scared. That's understandable. So will the teachers."

LINK: https://gofund.me/6bdb1e2d