ELSANOR, Ala. — Patti Cooper, the reading specialist at Elsanor Elementary has one of the older “portables” on the campus. She prefers to call it a “cottage.”

No matter what you call it, the small self-contained classroom developed a hole in the floor in one corner, next to a leaky air conditioner. You can see the ground a couple of feet below through the four-inch wide hole.

Fortunately, the hole is in an area that is easy to keep youngsters away from. More worrisome is a “weak spot” in the center of the floor. Cooper has covered with an extra layer of carpet and tries to keep the youngsters off of it.

And this is after Cooper and volunteers patched holes in the wall.

But, youngsters being youngsters, it is important to get the weak spot and the hole fixed. There is also a second air conditioning unit in the building, and light can be seen coming in a gap between the wall and the unit.

So, things needed to be fixed. Sooner, rather than later.

The trouble is, there is no money to do it.

“The Baldwin County School System told me they did not have the money … (to fix) it,” said Cooper, who has been at the school 23 years, a few years longer than her cottage.

Cooper’s husband, Charles Cooper, the head custodian at Foley High School, said he’d do the work for free with some volunteers if supplies could be found. Motty Bryant donated the plywood.

Cooper put out the word to a local charity, who could not help because of a prior commitment.

However, because of the appeal, two other groups, the Elsanor Homemakers Club and the Elsanor Community Center, heard about the need. The two community groups came up with the approximately $380 needed to fix the floor. Cooper had supplies lined up from Lowes in Daphne at a reduced cost. Bryant has helpers arranged, so all that was lacking was the money for the supplies.

“We believe in doing for the community, especially for the school,” explained Brenda Rabren, the president of the Elsanor Homemakers Club.

Carol Merchant, the president of the Elsanor Community Center, says that “five generations” of her family have attended Elsanor Elementary and that helping the school was “just the right thing to do.”

Both groups have done a variety of fundraisers to raise the money for the school. The Elsanor Homemakers donated proceeds from their cookbook.

“It has more than 250 home-tested recipes,” said Rabren. The books are $7.50 each, and can be obtained by calling 942-1345.

Right now, Cooper thinks the work will be done on her “cottage” during the “Fall Break,” which begins Oct. 19.

“I’ll have to start moving everything out before that, then move it back,” she said. Cooper is hoping for some other volunteers to help her, and people can help by calling the school at 947-5455.