The Tombigbee Chapter No. 51 of the Order of the Eastern Star recently donated school supplies to Harriet’s House.

The organization is a branch of the Demopolis Masonic Lodge No. 49. They donated 24 backpacks and supplies.

Harriet’s House director Susanna Naisbett said these types of donations have a big impact.

“This is critical for us,” she said. “Usually midway through the year, we’re putting out requests for more school supplies, but this is a lot. This looks like it could be enough to get us through the year.”

She added that it’s important to the children that come into Harriet’s House to have the same things the other children do.

“Families will come in with nothing, and the funds they have, if any, are limited,” she said. “This is part of our wrap-around services. We don’t want these kids to feel left out at all. I love the way people come together in this community for these kinds of things.”

The Tombigbee Chapter No. 51 of the Order of the Eastern Star was reestablished about a year-and-a-half ago, and they were able to make this donation from proceeds from a previous fundraiser.

“We had a crawfish fundraiser in May, and we used some of the proceeds from that to buy these supplies,” said the chapter’s Worthy Matron Lisa Noland. “That was our first real fundraiser, and we’re happy with how it turned out.”

The Order of the Eastern Star is open to men and women, but the men must be Master Masons and the women must have specific relationships with Masons.

The Demopolis Masonic Lodge No. 49 has been in existence for 175 years.

Harriet’s House is a shelter for victims of domestic abuse. Emergency shelter services are available free of charge to women and their children who are victims of domestic violence, and non-residential services are available free of charge to all victims of domestic violence.