As part of the season of giving, local elementary schools are working to teach students about the importance of giving back to the community.
The students at Oak Grove, Neelyville and Hillview elementary schools will collect nonperishable food items through Wednesday. The food will be donated to local organizations that help those in need.
The Hillview and Neelyville elementary schools started collecting items at the beginning of December. Neelyville Sixth Grade teacher Shannon Davis said the project has gone great so far this year.
While the project is focused on the students, area residents can bring items to the school offices to donate as well.
Davis is in charge of daily collection at Neelyville Elementary School. Meanwhile, second grade teacher Amy Mitchell is in charge of it at Hillview Elementary.
“I am currently keeping all the food in my classroom that we collect each day, and my room is busting at the seams,” Davis said. “We have food stacked wall to wall almost. It’s amazing.
“We are having to watch where we walk to keep from tripping over food. This is great though, and we aren’t complaining a bit.”
The food collected will go to the Neelyville Food Pantry.
“We were told our pantry is getting extremely low this year, so we are thrilled with the amount of items we have received,” she said.
The lesson for students, Davis explained, is to promote giving to others.
“Through this worthwhile project, we are trying to promote to our students that it is better to give than to receive,” Davis said. “Our teachers are talking to the students about where the food is going, how it is needed and how important that it is to bring items for the drive, if they are able to bring something. The students are beaming with pride each day as we collect their items.”
That being said, the class with the most donations at each school will receive a party on Thursday, after all the products are collected, sponsored by the Neelyville United Methodist Church.
Meanwhile, the students at Oak Grove are collecting nonperishable food for the Bread Shed.
The school puts on an annual community service project each year, and this year it’s the food drive.
Collection started Monday and will be accepted through Wednesday.