More than $8,600 plus 24,000 items donated to
M.I. Lewis Food Pantry during Stuff the Bus Food Drive
 The upcoming holidays will be a little brighter for families in Dickinson ISD thanks to some very generous donations of food and money from students, parents and employees to the M.I. Lewis Social Service Center and their food pantry. The 2014 Dickinson ISD Stuff the Bus Food Drive was a huge success with $8,600 in monetary donations, which is more than double the $4,000 received in 2013. In addition, nearly 25,000 items of food and other non-perishable items were collected which will supplement the food pantry shelves for several months.
"We are just overwhelmed at the generosity of everyone in this year's food drive. The Dickinson ISD Stuff the Bus Food Drive is M.I. Lewis' largest single contribution each year, and this year's donation is amazing," said Betty Lessert, executive director with M.I. Lewis. "This is a perfect example of helping your neighbor since we only serve families in need within the Dickinson ISD boundaries."
The monetary donation is extremely beneficial to the food pantry because they are able to purchase food at a greatly reduced cost through the Galveston County Food Bank. In fact, for every dollar donated they are able to purchase $10 worth of food, which means that the $8,600 donation will actually purchase up to $86,000 worth of food. The money also gives the center the ability to purchase perishable food items, such as meats, butter, milk, etc., which can't be donated during the actual food drive.
 The district has a friendly competition among campuses to see which campus and classes can raise the most, based on student enrollment. McAdams Junior High is the top finisher this year, followed by the Dickinson Continuation Center and Dickinson Alternative Learning Center in second place and Barber Middle School in third place. The McAdams students, parents and employees went above and beyond this year donating more than half the money raised with $4,300 in donations, plus an additional 5,100 non-perishable items.
"Our Gators always give back! We are very thankful for all the donations, which will stay in our community helping those in need," said Superintendent Vicki Mims. "Thanks also to the students in the Dickinson High School JAFROTC and PALS programs for helping stuff the buses at the end of the food drive and delivering the donations to the food pantry."
In addition, special recognition to the following teachers and their students for being the top donating class at their campus. They include Sandra Clemmons' PPCD class at Bay Colony Elementary, Shelley Shaw's kindergarten class and Amy Palermo's second grade class at Calder Road Elementary, Carol Kivch's first grade class at Hughes Road Elementary, Michael Eames' fourth grade class at K.E. Little Elementary, Shari Maierson's second grade class at San Leon Elementary, Cynthia Gaido's fourth grade class at Silbernagel Elementary, Danielle Goodrum's class at Barber Middle School, Nicole Long's class at Dunbar Middle School, Leonard Bradley's class at McAdams Junior High, Traci Mills' dance classes at Dickinson High School and Kristi Stroud's class at DCC/DALC. |
