Cove students conduct food drive to support Food for Families, fill shelves of local pantries
Special to Leader-Press
Fairview/Miss Jewell Elementary fifth grader Madelynn Gorres gets it. She and Elementary Student 2 Student members were in charge of picking up goods, weighing, sorting and packing everything for the Food for Families collection drive, loading 938 items on to the truck.
“We are doing this so we can feed the hungry and help the people who don’t have any money to buy food,” Gorres said. “Thanksgiving is about giving and not just about getting. So, we really want to help by giving them money and food.”
Martin Walker Elementary student Solomon Laloni realizes he is fortunate to not worry about where his next meal will come from and is honored to help others in need.
“I loved bringing in food for the collection drive,” Laloni said. “I hope it makes someone’s life better.”
All Copperas Cove ISD schools conducted food drives to support the annual Food for Families event that took place at H-E-B stores across Texas the week prior to Thanksgiving.
House Creek Elementary wins awards year after year for the amount of food collected and this year was no exception as students and staff contributed more than 5,000 pounds of food again as one of CCISD’s largest elementary schools.
Hettie Halstead Elementary Student Council headed up the collection drive at its school collecting more than 150 pounds of food. Member Hayden Sierra enjoys being in student council because he gets to make an impact in the community.
“I liked helping out Food for Families because we can give food to people who don’t have any,” Sierra said. “It also feels good to help people.”
The S. C. Lee Junior High Student Council collected food from the social studies classes, sorting and weighing it in the school cafeteria. Students received opportunity tickets to win prizes for food items they contributed. S. C. Lee collects approximately 2,400 pounds of food each year.
“The most challenging part of the Food for Families project was convincing people to donate food in a timely manner,” Leyla Pena, student council president said.
Williams/Ledger Elementary student council members headed up the collection drive at their school gathering 738 items.
“It’s a good idea (to give food) because I have seen homeless people before and giving them food helps them,” fourth grader Bella Thaxdon said. “I like that people at my school care.”
Even CCISD’s youngest learners got involved in the drive with Pre-K students at Mae Stevens Early Learning Academy collecting an estimated 500 pounds of food. With the collections of all of CCISD’s schools combined, the district raised more than 15,000 pounds of food for the Food for Families event. The donations support local food pantries.