Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Hay River (Oct 28/05) - In mid-November, three Hay River men will head south to the hurricane-ravaged southern U.S. with 11,535 books -- one from each schoolchild in the NWT.

Three Hay River men -- left to right, Brad Mapes, Marc Miltenberger and Wally Schumann Jr. -- head south in November with books for schoolchildren caught in Hurricane Katrina. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The goodwill gesture -- Canadian Arctic Students Supporting New Orleans -- is the brainchild of Brad Mapes.

"It's more the thought of having every child give something of themselves," the Hay River businessman explains, noting it teaches kids the importance of helping others.

NWT schoolchildren themselves realize the children of New Orleans need help.

"I think it's a good idea, because all their books are trashed right now and they really need some," says 12-year-old Trudy Hiebert, a Grade 7 student at Hay River's Princess Alexandra School.

Classmate Tory Sabourin agrees. "They'll know that there are people out there who care about them."

The project has the backing of the GNWT, which paid to print stickers to go on each donated book. Children can write their names, schools and home communities on the stickers, along with messages of support.

Mapes says the idea is for each school in the NWT to provide books to match its exact number of students. "The whole thing is to say each child has given a book."

If some children can't donate a book, he suggests other children make up the difference.

In late August, Mapes was on holiday in the U.S. when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf of Mexico shoreline.

"I was enjoying myself in San Francisco and realized I was lucky to be holidaying when there were others less fortunate who were losing their houses and jobs," he recalls.

Mapes contacted the Hay River Rotary Club, where he is a member, and his idea was further developed.

The books will be driven to the Houston area, where many children from New Orleans are now attending school. Efforts are underway through the Hay River Rotary Club to contact a Rotary Club in Houston to distribute the books.

However, Mapes says it is also possible the books might be taken directly to New Orleans.

Two of his friends -- Marc Miltenberger and Wally Schumann Jr. -- will join him in driving the books south in Mapes' truck and trailer.

"I just told them to come for a ride," he says.

Mapes estimates the non-stop journey will take just under 60 hours, with one man driving, another "riding shotgun" to ensure the driver stays awake and the other sleeping.

Mapes says all schools in the NWT should have received or will soon be receiving information on the project, but any which don't can contact him at blmapes@hotmail.com. Letters on the project went out to schools in mid-October. When the books are collected, schools should also contact him for shipping information to get the books to Hay River.

There has been a lot of positive feedback on the project, Mapes says, noting northern airlines have volunteered to transport the books from remote communities so all schoolchildren can participate.