"These kids are what I, as an American, want to see in our youth," coach Elizabeth Bandercan tells PEOPLE

Elizabeth Bandercan was well aware of the kidness of strangers long before Hurricane Harvey flood waters devastated her community in late August.

The Bellaire High School soccer coach had started a special ESL (“English as a second language”) team at her Houston-area school three years ago as a way for her non-English speaking students to have a school activity that did not require language.

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“There have been so many people supporting us by donating used cleats and jerseys year after year,” Bandercan tells PEOPLE. “And I kept telling the boys, ‘When the time comes, you’re going to have to give back to the community, because that’s what it means to be an American.’ ”

So when Bandercan saw how the flood waters — which have devastated an estimated 46,000 homes in the region and led to at least 60 deaths — impacted their community, she knew it was time to pay it forward.

Image zoom Bandercan (front) with some of her students.

“We have a What’s App? group to schedule practices and such and I got on there and said, ‘Okay, who is ready to work?’ ” says Bandercan. “And they’ve just amazed me how they’ve stepped up.”

For over a week, around 15 of Bandercan’s students have shown up each day to help clean out flooded homes, help families move, and deliver much-needed supplies. She estimates they’ve helped out at five to seven houses a day — totaling 35 to 40 homes so far.

Image zoom Courtesy Elizabeth Bandercan

“Some come when they get off work. They’ll walk 2 miles just to join us. They are just amazing,” says Bandercan. “When I drop a couple of them off at the end of the day, they don’t say, ‘Bye.’ They say, ‘See you tomorrow.’ I don’t even have to ask them. They’ve been bitten by the volunteer bug. They see how they’re making a difference and they’re running with it.”

For more on how neighbors are helping neighbors recover after Hurricane Harvery, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

Bandercan says her students’ willingness to volunteer is particularly inspiring because many of them are immigrants.

Image zoom Courtesy Elizabeth Bandercan

“I don’t know for certain because we don’t ask them, but I have to assume at least a few are undocumented,” says Bandercan. “But most of most of them have been here since they were little and grew up in the U.S. pledging allegiance to the flag. They’ve grown up here and are proving they have American values. They are volunteering until exhaustion because they know that’s the way Americans are.”

Image zoom Courtesy Elizabeth Bandercan

Bandercan says there is one student she has been particularly inspired by.

“I have one boy who has been here form maybe 5 months and only speaks a tiny bit of English. He volunteers during the day with us and then I found out that he went on his own the NRG Stadium and has been volunteering the overnight shift the past three nights,” says Bandercan. “This is a child who is 15-years-old, barely speaks English but walked over there and presented himself and said, ‘I want to help.’ ”

“These kids may not be Americans according to a piece of paper, but they’re American in their hearts and souls,” she adds. “These kids are what I, as an American, want to see in our youth.”