Pebble Creek Apartment Homes in SW Roanoke County participated in the “Snowflake Drive” for Sandy Hook Elementary School on Thursday, January 3 just in time for the children’s first day back at school. They wanted to show their support for all of the citizens of Newtown, CT who recently suffered such a tragic and horrific loss. The PTAs from across the state of Connecticut hung paper snowflakes in the hallways of the new school so that when the students arrived, they would feel love and support from across the nation.

Even though Pebble Creek was notified that the school had enough snowflakes, they still wanted to participate. Residents from Southwest County as well as other areas of the Roanoke Valley stopped by the Pebble Creek Office to make their own snowflakes or to bring their own snowflakes they made at home. Some people had used construction paper, others had used plain white paper that they colored with markers, and some had even used coffee filters to make the pretty designs! Several people brought in monetary donations to be sent to the school instead of creating a snowflake. The plan is for Pebble Creek to send in a card, with the snowflakes and the monetary donations so that the community of Newtown in general and the students at Sandy Hook Elementary specifically could be reminded of how much they are thought of throughout the Roanoke Valley. Susan Hubbard, the property manager for Pebble Creek said, “any kind of monetary donations will help the school… possibly even go towards building a memorial to respectfully remember those who were lost.”

Pebble Creek may be involved in helping Sandy Hook Elementary School right now, but they’re no strangers to helping others throughout the year. In fact, they participate in the Cell Phones for Soldiers Program and encourage those who wish to get rid of their old cell phones to bring them into the Pebble Creek Office at any point during the year. “The Cell Phones for Soldiers Program takes the phones and recycles them… ultimately turning them into air time in order for the soldiers to call home for free,” said Joanna Merritt, office manager at Pebble Creek. Pebble Creek has participated in the program for a year and plans to continue it as long as they can.

The snowflakes hanging in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary are a reminder to those children and staff that the nation is behind them to support and love them. The snowflakes from Pebble Creek may not hang in the halls, but they will be sent to the school in order to show them that those of us in the Roanoke Valley are sending our love and support too.