MINNEAPOLIS — The U.S. Department of Education's Furniture for Schools Program, which has donated more than 12,000 school desks and other furniture valued at $4.6 million to Hurricane Katrina-impacted schools, was honored Thursday night in a Minneapolis ceremony for its relief efforts.

Kristen Lepore of the Education Department accepted on behalf of the department the 2006 Miles Romney Achievement Award, presented annually by the U.S. General Services Administration to federal agencies for noteworthy personal property management and disposition practices.

The ceremony took place at the 2006 National Property Management Association Annual Conference at the Hilton Minneapolis in Minneapolis.

"We are grateful for this recognition of our efforts to lend a helping hand to the students in Louisiana and Mississippi whose lives were uprooted by the events of a year ago," U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a statement from Washington. "Hurricane Katrina brought untold tales of misery to the people of the Gulf states. Yet from that destruction arose an example of the best that America has to offer - teamwork, leadership and people tightening their belts to help out their fellow human beings in promoting excellence in American education."

A few examples of the recipients and donations they have received:

• LaFourche Parish Schools, Thibodaux, La., 400 computers and printers, provided by the Department of Commerce
• Plaquemines Parish, La., 2,000 student desks from the Magnus West firm.
• Harrison County Schools, Gulfport, Miss., 2,700 pieces of classroom furniture, provided by the Middletown, Ohio, Schools.
• Bel Aire Elementary School, Gulfport, Miss., 1,300 pieces of classroom furniture donated by the Camp Lejeune, N.C., Marine Corps Base, Department of Defense.
• Hancock County Schools, Kiln, Miss., 410 computers and printers donated by the departments of Commerce and Justice.

Furniture for Schools was created to help find student desks for the schools in Louisiana and Mississippi that took in displaced students from Hurricane Katrina. This, following stories of children sitting on floors in classrooms because there were not enough desks for the displaced students.

The U.S. Department of Education collaborated with GSA to reach out to other federal agencies and state surplus offices throughout the country to locate student desks and ship them quickly to school districts in the Mississippi and Louisiana.

Nearly a year after it was established, the Furniture for Schools project is stronger and busier than ever. The U.S. Department of Education and GSA are still sending new shipments to schools in Mississippi and Louisiana every week.

All told, more than 12,000 desks, furniture pieces, computers and other equipment worth $4.6 million have been sent to the two states.

For more information on how to donate items to impacted schools, either log onto www.ed.gov/Katrina or call the Education Department at 617-289-0100.

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