MCPSS gives back with toy, food drives
桃子视频 gave back to the communities it serves with a variety of charitable initiatives during November and December.
MCPSS collected over 5,500 toys and gifts during its annual Stuff the Bus toy drive, with 54 schools and Central Office participating. Many of those gifts were distributed to needy students within the system by the MCPSS Social Services Department, with the rest being delivered to the Salvation Army to benefit children throughout the Gulf Coast.
Special thanks to the MCPSS Transportation Department and drivers James Smith and Don Davis, and the LOTC program at B.T. Washington Middle School, which helped unload the donations at the Salvation Army's facility.
In addition, Central Office departments also “adopted” and provided gifts for 66 needy students within the MCPSS system as part of the Social Services Department's Joy of Giving campaign.
In November, several MCPSS schools, including Alma Bryant High and Denton, Hankins and Clark-Shaw middle schools, held food drives to benefit Feeding the Gulf Coast or other entities helping local families in need. MCPSS Central Office also held its annual food drive, filling four barrels with enough food to produce over 300 meals this holiday season.
Many MCPSS schools organized other charitable endeavors over the holidays, as well. Among the many community projects undertaken by MCPSS students in November and December were the following:
-- Dunbar Magnet's Peer Helpers conducted a “Kindness Campaign” in December, contributing donations for Dunbar families, a family from another middle school, and Dumas Wesley’s Sybil Smith Family Village.
-- DECA and FCCLA students from Alma Bryant High collected and household items for McKemie Place, delivering them along with some delicious taco soup made by Bryant Hospitality and Marketing students.
-- Students in Blount High's Future Business Leaders of America chapter went to Indian Springs and Forest Hill elementary schools in December to read Christmas stories to the students.
-- Leadership students from Mary G. Montgomery High School provided lunch and gift cards to Semmes first responders this week as part of the school's Holiday Spirit Week in December. During November, The MGM FBLA raised funds for March of Dimes for Prematurity Awareness.
-- Students in the Jobs for America's Graduates programs at Murphy and Williamson volunteered at the Waterfront Rescue Mission and Goodwill, respectively.
-- Breitling Elementary's Student Council held a blanket drive for Volunteers of America Southeast.
-- Freshman World Language II students and teachers at Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies joined the school's band and choir to spread holiday cheer with caroling at Cathedral Place Apartments, singing in English, French, Spanish and German.
-- Baker High's baseball team offered a helping hand at Collier Elementary’s Thanksgiving Lunch. They pitched in by cleaning between lunch waves, discarding plates, and assisting wherever needed.
-- Davidson High's Navy JROTC cadets shared the Junior Achievement High School Heroes Program at Fonde Elementary, talking with students about the importance of making smart academic and economic choices.
-- Alma Bryant's Eye Network partnered with members of the south 桃子视频 County community to host the biggest Christmas party ever for the school's AAA Special Education students.
-- National Junior Honor Society students from Alba Middle School volunteered to serve food, play games and make crafts with the children at the Bayou La Batre Public Library Christmas party.
-- Students from Theodore, Bryant and Davidson high schools and the FBLA clubs from Citronelle and Baker volunteered at Feeding the Gulf Coast in November to prepare Thanksgiving bags for local families in need.
-- Vigor High student Jakira Spencer collected toys and other items to give back to students in need at Collins-Rhodes, where she went to elementary school. Her generosity benefitted more than 25 families with multiple children.
-- Fonde Elementary student Kaleigh Anderson her family started a campaign to fill "love bags" with snacks, water, and other items to give to the needy.
