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St. Joe’s students coordinate school supply drive
Comments 0 | Recommend 0When school begins in the fall, the students in Evelia Garcia’s fourth-grade class at Vermillion Elementary will reap the benefits of her former students’ kind gesture.
One of Garcia’s previous classes donated toys to the pediatric patients at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Brownsville. Now the hospital will give back to her.
Garcia is more than excited about the reciprocation.
“Last year we got a chance to help them out with a toy drive. It’s so awesome that we are helping each other out,” she said.
St. Joseph’s Academy has been working with VBMC-Brownsville Auxiliary since fall 2005. Every semester, the school picks several students to participate in the special project.
“Every semester I do a presentation at St. Joe’s and talk about the hospital and volunteer services, the students write an essay and five students are chosen,” said Manuel Chacon, volunteer services coordinator for VBMC-Brownsville.
Chacon said the St. Joe’s volunteers decided to do more for the community than just help the hospital.
“They decided to host the first Valley Baptist-Brownsville spring school supply drive by health services,” Chacon said.
Aurora Larrazolo, Julie Rubiano, Andrea Barthel, Georgette Gonzalez, and Roberto Solis collected more than 1,000 school supplies for Garcia’s fourth-grade class.
“Adult volunteers and employees from the hospital also helped, and Staples contributed to the school supply drive,” Chacon said.
Notebooks, paper, crayons, glue sticks, binders, and backpacks were donated to Garcia’s class. Chacon said the St. Joe volunteers focused on these items because Brownsville Independent School District administrators said those items were needed the most at the beginning of the school year.
“We are doing it as a token of our appreciation,” Chacon said.
Garcia is sure the supplies will go to good use.
“My kids need the resources, and they are going to benefit,” Garcia said.
VBMC-Brownsville Auxiliary will deliver and distribute the supplies in August when the new academic year begins.
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