Chick-fil-A holding fundraiser Thursday to help Jacksonville School for Autism repair damage

It’s been 13 days since the Jacksonville School for Autism had to evacuate dozens of its special needs kids after water entered the school.

JEA said it happened at the school on the southside due to the sewer system being backed up with excessive rain.

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The school’s founder told Action News Jax it’s looking for the community to help restore what was damaged.

“Are we here for the community care program for the Jacksonville School of Autism?” a Chick-fil-A worker asked.

This is what Chick-fil-A workers at the location on Southside Boulevard near The Avenues Mall will be asking customers on Thursday.

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This Chick-fil-A owner said it’s part of a fundraiser to help the Jacksonville School for Autism repair damages.

“The thing with Chick-fil-A is that we really believe in showing care for our guests and community. We are going to do anything we can to help people in the area when there’s a need,” Chick-fil-A owner Joel Parker said.

The school suffered major water damage from the ceiling to the floor of the school on September 4.

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“When something like this happens after almost 20 years of investing of investing in a program, it crushes your soul,” Michelle Dunham, Founder of Jacksonville School for Autism, said.

Dunham said it was a normal school day until everything changed around noon.

“We started seeing some bubbling coming up in the floor drains. Within 30 minutes, we had a complete emergency evacuation of our school,” Dunham said.

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The school evacuated all the special needs kids. For nearly two weeks, they have been in temporary buildings to continue their schooling.

“We currently have 61 displaced students. The families that were driving to JSA are now driving to five other locations,” Dunham said.

She said some of these locations are adding an hour to parents’ drive. In the meantime, several machines are in place to dry and sanitize the school.

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According to our First Alert Weather Team, the deluge that flooded the school on September 4 was about 4 to 6 inches in just a few hours.

Dunham mentioned the complete restoration of the school could cost up to $400,000.

The fundraiser will be held on Thursday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Click to this link to learn more about how you can help this school https://www.jsakids.org/

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