Dollars from Scholars gather donations to support students, families
by EDMUND LIU
In lieu of a canned food drive, the senior class will have the 5th annual “Dollars from Scholars” drive Dec. 3-12.
“Dollars from Scholars” is a donation drive dedicated to providing meals for families of students in need. All students and staff are encouraged to donate at least a dollar to envelopes located in each classroom.
Nearly one in five children in America live in food insecure households that cannot provide enough food for the families. This equates to approximately 680 students that might experience the holidays without a meal. All proceeds will be used to purchase meals for students and families that are in need during the holiday season.
“Although every student or teacher may only donate a dollar, every donation, no matter how small, ultimately creates an amount that makes a huge difference,” said Cassandra Dinh senior class USB member. “Essentially, we are a Spartan family willing to help each other.”
The drive first began collecting donations from a single classroom, and it has since expanded to include the entire school.
Last year, the senior class raised around $4,000, which fed approximately 100 families of students from Schurr, Macy Intermediate and ATC. This year, Eastmont Intermediate will be receiving support from the donations.
“Hopefully this year we’ll reach our goal of getting everyone on campus to donate at least a dollar,” said USB President Cecilia Campos. “I truly believe we will have more participation this year after last year’s amazing result. I don’t know how we’ll be able to top last year’s numbers, but I predict that this year will go above our expectations.”
A staff luncheon will be held Dec. 17 at which food will be offered for $1 to thank participating teachers and staff; teachers whose classes raised the most money will also be recognized. The teacher whose classes raise the most money will receive this year’s “Dollars from Scholars” banner, and the teacher with the greatest percentage of student participation will receive a plaque.
“The staff has done a great job of trying to help reach our goal of 100 percent participation and we hope that they encourage it again this year,” said Kevin Akiyama, class of 2015 advisor. “We met our goal last year and the number of meals we were able to provide exceeded our expectations.”