Whether donating a few cans, a dozen or enough to fill 20 boxes or 40 or 80 or 169, contributing to a cause like Food for Families goes way beyond helping a neighbor in need.
Across Killeen ISD and Central Texas, schools, churches, businesses and groups and individuals of all kinds leaned into the annual effort to stock the shelves of food pantries all over the cities and towns that make up this region.
On Friday, the last school day before the week-long Thanksgiving break, at numerous KISD schools, groups of students finished filling boxes with donated non-perishable food items.
Two crews from KISD Property Management picked up the largest loads from 15 campuses that requested help. Those schools reported between 10 boxes and 81. Several ended up with many more than expected due to generous last day giving.
Donations from schools in Killeen went to the Killeen Food Care Center. Donations from Harker Heights and Nolanville went to a pantry in Nolanville. Donations from schools on Fort Cavazos went to a pantry on the post.
Food Care Center Executive Director Raymond Cockrell joined KISD Community Relations Director Angenet Wilkerson at Saegert Elementary School, where a group of student council members helped load 81 large boxes onto a dolly for transport to a truck outside.
Cockrell and Wilkerson told the group of student leaders at Saegert Elementary their work is making a huge difference.
The Killeen Food Care Center provided about 3 million pounds of donated food items to 149,326 residents in the past year, he said. It all came from donations from people just like them.
The center director commended the young students for putting the needs of others in front of their own and said they would likely continue their generous ways into adulthood.
“It’s the teamwork and the caring of what we’re doing that is important,” said Saegert fifth-grader Eric Kellum, who appreciated the level of cooperation in putting together a successful drive.
“It’s to help those who need help,” said Greyson Ridley. “We have so much, and we want to help those who need (food). I’m very happy, joyful, grateful that we brought so much to provide for others.”
“This food drive is important because other people have struggles and you never know what they might be going through,” said Aliyah Torres. “Just providing for them helps a lot.”
At Pershing Park Elementary School, Janelle Rodriguez, president of the student council, agreed that food drives are important to help others. She was pleased with the stack of 33 boxes her school filled.
“Lots of people brought cans,” she said. “Almost every single class brought cans. I was surprised how much we raised.”
At Ira Cross Elementary School, students and family members contributed 4,894 items, filling 169 boxes of various sizes.
“We tried a lot,” said Ira Cross third-grader Lathan Baez, acknowledging that a pizza party prize helped motivate his class to raise 1,037 items, the most at his school.
“I love the food drive,” said classmate Jay McArthur. “We’re giving cans to people who don’t have (enough) food. It makes me happy.”
“It’s important to give food to people who are less fortunate,” said Christian Anderson. “It makes me happy.”
Food for Families photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720322110012/
