From donating 30,000 food items to the Village Food Pantry, to
raising more than $10,000 to help the needy, to putting boots on the ground to aide
community programs, New Richmond
Exempted Village School District staff, students and community proved once
again that care and concern for students and their families is not limited to
the classroom.
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Virtual Academy director Gary
Combs and his students joined
Transitions Program students to
help Matthew 25 Ministries. |
“It is truly an honor and a privilege to be a part of a
school district where care and concern for students and their families is not
limited to the confines of the classroom and where an attitude of giving and
giving back is cultivated at every grade level and extends exponentially into
our community,” said New Richmond High School teacher Sue Griffin, whose Lions
Reach Out charity raised $8000.
Lions Reach Out fundraising efforts included the Turkey
Tuesday basketball game between high school students and staff, a craft fair
and a Bengals ticket raffle that raised $700. An anonymous donor donated two Bengals club seats valued at
$410 for the raffle. River Hills and Park National banks, Front Street Café,
the Green Kayak and the Landing sold tickets.
“That $8000 also includes contributions from staff members
and community residents and Chuck and James (entertainers Chuck Grady and James
Evanshine) donating their Human Jukebox fees,” said Griffin. “The money put
into gifts for kids sponsored by parents and staff members probably added
another $2000-3000 to that total. This
year, we took care of about 80 children, ranging in age from an infant to
seniors in high school.”
New Richmond Elementary provided gifts for more than 70
students.
“In addition to supporting the Lions Reach Out Program, the NRE staff
partnered with Park National Bank in New Richmond to provide gifts for more than
70 of our students through our first annual Giving Tree program,” said NRE
principal Jamie Kunz.
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New Richmond Virtual Academy students volunteer at Matthew 25 Ministries. |
NRHS Virtual Academy students joined NREVSD Transitions Program
students on their monthly trip to Mathew 25 Ministries to package items for the
needy.
“It’s good for all students to provide a service to their
community,” said Virtual Academy director Gary Combs, who worked with
Transitions teacher Lisa Martin to coordinate the effort. “Mathew 25 Ministries
was complimentary of the students from New Richmond and invited them to volunteer
anytime they like.”
The district food drive set records again for the district,
high school, middle school and elementary schools with the high school
collecting 15,277 items, the middle school 8800 items and the three elementary
schools combining for 6006 items for a district total of 30,083 items for the
New Richmond Village Food Pantry.
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NREVSD staff, students and their families donated
30,083 food items to the New Richmond Food Pantry. |
Last year’s district food drive collected 26,891 items with
the high school leading with 14,920.
“It’s an all-time high once again,” said NRHS principal Mark
Bailey. “We’ve broken the record for three years in a row.”
Monroe Elementary continued its tradition of foregoing a Christmas party in favor of donating to a worthy cause and collected more than 200 new pajamas for the Pajama Program.
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New Richmond Middle School staff and students load up some of the 8800
food items collected for the New Richmond Food Pantry. |
“There is a wonderful synergy that happens when the things
that all of us do together are much greater than what any of us could do individually,”
said Griffin.