Rather than spending money on mums, two moms are encouraging students to donate to a bigger cause. WTV’s Marisa Uddin has the story.

Two Frisco moms are encouraging students to donate money to their Hurricane Harvey GoFundMe page rather than spending a large amount on mums. Knowing that mums are an important Texan tradition, Frisco resident D’Ann Shippy asks students to be selfless.

“I understand that this is going to be tough for people because I grew up with mums and I understand the tradition behind them,” Frisco ISD mom D’Ann Shippy said. “This would be kind of an easy way for people to take the money that they would spend on a mum, which can reach up to $200. Just take all of that, if you’re willing to make that sacrifice, or even a quarter of it, half of it, just to help these kids because they’re not even thinking about their homecoming.”

All donations will be going directly to the five schools in Aransas County ISD. According to Aransas County ISD Education Foundation Executive Director Suzanne Ransleben, about 65 percent of the children that feed into the district are in families that are economically disadvantaged, so they’re struggling to rebuild their homes and obtain clean water. These children are being bussed to another school district for one year. Frisco resident Renee Mills created the GoFundMe page along with Shippy to motivate students to look at the bigger picture.

“I came up with this because I really wanted for my son, as well as other kids, to have something to look at that was bigger than them,” Frisco resident Renee Mills said. “I feel like this is a really good opportunity for them to do something that they really feel good about.”

Students on campus hope that this contribution will further inspire students to give up their wants for other people’s needs.

“They don’t even have the idea of mums, really,” sophomore Sam Mills said. “They can’t go to school, they don’t have a homecoming, so really we should think about that a little bit and we should give up a few of the luxuries that we have to help people who need it the most.”