High cost of school supplies prompted these North Texas siblings to help their classmates

It could be said siblings Hailey and Ryan Cawley Jr. of Roanoke are the definition of great classmates.

For a second straight year the sister and brother duo came up with a cool plan to help their fellow students at Roanoke Elementary School. With the help of their parents and friends, they recently hosted an booth selling ice cream and sports drinks to raise money to help buy supplies, raising $1,000.

“The children saw how much we as a family spend on school supplies and realized not everyone would be able to afford these supplies,” their mother, Erica Cawley explained, adding the idea for the project belonged completely to Hailey and Ryan.

“When children don’t bring in supplies it ends up weighing on the teachers. Our donation of school supplies helps supplement the need.”

Hailey, 10, is a fifth-grader and Ryan, 9, is in the fourth grade.

Erica said Pokey O’s Roanoke donated the ice cream, All American Towing sponsored stand supplies and Prime and Layne’s Chicken of Roanoke provided cups for the drinks.

“It made us feel happy to support our community and work together as brother and sister,” Hailey said.

“It was fun, we had our two favorite items, ice cream and Prime,” Ryan said. “All of our friends helped and showed up.”

The money was raised in a span of just three hours, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. However, Hailey and Ryan started planning their event about a month before it took place.

“We rode our bikes a couple weeks prior around the neighborhood to hang signs and door knock to tell neighbors,” Ryan said. “We had mommy text friends and share on Facebook.”

It worked as plenty of folks came out to enjoy the goodies. They even had the support of the city of Roanoke and the Roanoke Police Department, who had stickers and other swag available on a table at the event.

The $1,000 was a significant increase over the inaugural event in 2022, which brought in $600 to help their fellow students. The money was presented to Roanoke Elementary Principal Erin Appling on Aug. 14.

“These two students and their parents have really raised the bar with regard to kindness and generosity,” Appling said. “They exemplify what it means to be a ‘Roanoke Ranger.’ Hailey and Ryan are so invested in their school and community, and to demonstrate their passion in such a public way is what makes our community so unique. We are proud of these two Rangers.”

Erica said the event provided a lesson to her children and others that anything can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. She was also impressed with the community support.

“Some didn’t even want ice cream or a drink, they just wanted to support with a monetary donation,” she said, adding that the experience also provided a lesson of thinking and caring for others.

“While we have our school supplies covered someone else may not,” she said.

“It feels heart-warming that us two little kids can make that big of an impact,” Hailey added.

The community support included family friends pitching in and helping, Erica noted.

Each year the Cawley family puts on a trunk or treat during Halloween for the community. They ask that all attendees bring a food item for the Roanoke Food Pantry.

“Last year we had two trucks full of food donated,” Erica said.