OKLAHOMA CITY -- Sewage now covers the floors in one metro children's center. Furniture, toys and books are all destroyed after last week's flooding. The contamination is creeping up the walls. Inside, working hard to get the place cleaned up, is Candy Nesom. She says, "We have a lot of Germ-X, a lot of Clorox wipes, latex gloves and rubber boots." Nesom is the Executive Director for Celebrations Preschool, Inc.
Celebrations is a non-profit private school for those in need.
They teach English to toddlers preparing them for school.
Ninety percent of the little kids who count on the spot are from low-income families.
They are supposed to start their lessons on August 19, but with no money and little time to get the center cleaned up, that start date is uncertain.
Nesom says, "We lost a lot of books, a lot of curriculum, just a lot of children's supplies."
Five drains in the building started spewing sewage as heavy rain backed up the system Thursday.
Any items that weren't on the floor are fine, but everything else is headed for the dump.
Nesom says, "If you think about it, you wouldn't want your own child touching anything that the sewer water had touched, so ,you know, when in doubt, throw it out."
That means most of Celebrations' previous donations have to be tossed.
The building itself is in bad shape.
To make things even more challenging for this non-profit, they learned the insurance will not cover the building.
Nesom is determined to not let the kids down.
She says, "We will make it happen one way or another. If we have to start late and make up some days, whatever we have to do, we will get the kids back in here."
The damage is spread over all 6,000 square feet and could cost as much as $100,000 to fix.
The center is connected with the United Way and Celebrations will be getting some funding from them, but it will not be enough.
Celebrations is a non-profit private school for those in need.
They teach English to toddlers preparing them for school.
Ninety percent of the little kids who count on the spot are from low-income families.
They are supposed to start their lessons on August 19, but with no money and little time to get the center cleaned up, that start date is uncertain.
Nesom says, "We lost a lot of books, a lot of curriculum, just a lot of children's supplies."
Five drains in the building started spewing sewage as heavy rain backed up the system Thursday.
Any items that weren't on the floor are fine, but everything else is headed for the dump.
Nesom says, "If you think about it, you wouldn't want your own child touching anything that the sewer water had touched, so ,you know, when in doubt, throw it out."
That means most of Celebrations' previous donations have to be tossed.
The building itself is in bad shape.
To make things even more challenging for this non-profit, they learned the insurance will not cover the building.
Nesom is determined to not let the kids down.
She says, "We will make it happen one way or another. If we have to start late and make up some days, whatever we have to do, we will get the kids back in here."
The damage is spread over all 6,000 square feet and could cost as much as $100,000 to fix.
The center is connected with the United Way and Celebrations will be getting some funding from them, but it will not be enough.
