Tag: raises

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Summerlake Elementary School raises over $11,000 for local non-profit | West Orange Times & Observer

Summerlake Elementary School raises over ,000 for local non-profit | West Orange Times & Observer

One Orange County Public School is going above and beyond its goals to help those in need. 

Summerlake Elementary School recently raised over $11,000 for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida through its virtual food drive.

Second Harvest is a a private, non-profit organization that collects, stores and distributes donated food to more than 550 feeding partners in six Central Florida counties. 

Summerlake Elementary School PTO Vice President Veronica Solarz said the virtual food drive began last year due to COVID-19 restrictions where volunteers could not be on campus. 

“We didn’t want a food collection falling on the teachers and staff that were already going above and beyond the call of duty during the first few months of school,” Solarz said. “Especially being a brand new school last year. So I started looking for different options and found that Second Harvest offered a virtual option and I loved it.”

Solarz said even with so many of the students being virtual last year, the event was a hit. 

This year, the food drive ran for a total of six days. 

The original goal of $2,500 was met in less than one day. The school quickly expanded its efforts, setting a new goal of $10,000 which was still surpassed. 

The school helped to provide over 43,508 meals for those in need. 

Solarz said she had the opportunity to speak with the students during lunch about the drive. She let them know why they were taking part in the drive, how $1 provided 4 meals and why it’s important to be a good neighbor to those in need.  

“The older students were even figuring out how many meals we had provided when I told them the amount we had raised so far,” Solarz said. “They were so excited knowing they were making such a huge impact on our community.” 

Mrs. Crispell’s 1st grade class won the prize for the most donations during the food drive. The PTO Vice President said they are planning to do a pizza picnic with the school’s mascot for the kids as well as supplying them with hand-made Great Neighbor Gator certificate’s to show appreciation. 

“These kids….they are simply amazing,” Solarz said. “But to be honest, the kids at this school always do amazing things. I collect items to be recycled through TerraCycle every month and we’ve collected over 9000 items already. They donated leftover Halloween candy to the troops and I brought 241 pounds home to be packaged up. They donated costumes to Give Kids the World. And we have so much more planned this year.”

 

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Hallsville ISD elementary school raises more than $5,000 for Angel Tree | News

Hallsville ISD elementary school raises more than ,000 for Angel Tree | News

HALLSVILLE — A Hallsville ISD elementary school has raised more than $5,000 this year to contribute to the district’s Angel Tree fund, which provides Christmas presents for families in need.

Each November, Hallsville Intermediate School raises money throughout a two-week period known as the “Penny Wars,” to donate to the Angel Tree Foundation, which provides Christmas presents to area children in need.

The friendly competition sees jugs for teachers set out front of the school’s front office during the two-week period. The teachers who collect the most points from pennies wins.

“Here’s how the game works: each family of teachers has their own plastic jug outside of the front office. Students gain points for the class by adding pennies to their jug. Students can lower their opponents’ points by adding silver change to the opponents’ jug,” Hallsville Intermediate School Counselor Victoria Downs said. “The points are tallied each day and announced over the intercom. The next morning, the students are ready to sabotage whoever is winning and also add more to their own jug.”

In addition to knowing they bested other classes at the game, the winning team at each grade level wins a pizza.

“We also set a campus goal to raise $3,000, and if we reached that goal, the students would be able to pie our principal, Aaron Hoecherl, and our campus officer, Justin Clark, in the face,” Downs said.

The students raised so much, more than $5,300, resulting in both Hoecherl and Clark getting a face full of pie this year.

“This competition is such a fun way to raise money towards a good cause while also integrating math,” Downs said. “The Penny Wars has always been very successful, but this year we were shocked at how well it went.”

Downs and other staff presented the $5,327 check to Hallsville ISD Special Programs Director Amy Whittle recently.

“We sent emails thanking parents for letting their children raid their couch cushions and cup holders, but parents were calling the school and letting us know that their children were using their own allowance for this fundraiser,” Downs said. “I hope our students know how much of an impact they have made on children’s lives and how many children will actually be able to enjoy Christmas this year because of them.”

In celebration of the above and beyond giving, the winning classes received their pizza and the whole school received popsicles and extra recess time, making a win-win for everyone this holiday season.