Students and faculty at Sebring’s B.L. Miller Elementary School, along with the support of many generous community partners and families, are providing 42 local families with food and supplies during their annual Christmas Basket Drive.
Of those families, 108 children will benefit from the drive, and will also be receiving gifts to add under the tree.
Since November, students, families and staff have been contributing food items daily to the drive. The sixth-grade student senate and third-grade classes have been collecting the items, and the third-graders tallied and graphed them daily. The elementary group that contributed the most received a candy party sponsored by Partners in Education (P.I.E.).
Laundry baskets filled with household items and overflowing boxes of food lined the elementary hallways, and Sebring teachers, staff, family members and community volunteers helped deliver them on Friday, the last day of school before break.
“Our goal is to provide food to support our families in keeping our kids’ bellies full over the winter break, a time when finances are tight and there are more mouths to feed,” says Leann Laure, third grade teacher at Sebring who leads the drive.
Laure initiated the effort with her parents 30 years ago, after her first year of teaching in the district. She recalls putting together baskets for eight families the first year, and credits the helping hands of many who have contributed to its great success.
“I say it every year, and I will say it again…we could NOT provide all that we do for our families if not for the support of all of our very generous individuals, businesses and organizations,” Laure says. “We are so blessed to have and retain their support each year. So many hands go into helping make this month-long initiative happen, and as a result, we’re able to bless so many families.”
Household items included shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, body wash, deodorant, laundry soap, dish soap. There are food items for holiday cooking and everyday meals for families, including milk, bread, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, poptarts, eggs, stuffing, sugar, flour, turkey pans, potatoes, turkey bags, hot dogs, spaghetti sauce, brownie mix and pancakes.
In addition to food, household items and gifts, hats and gloves will also be distributed to all families who requested them.
The district would like to thank the many local businesses, churches, nonprofit organizations, families and individuals who contributed to the efforts through monetary, food, household supplies and gift donations.
Donors included Sebring Villas and Mrs. Connor, Brickhouse, Danny’s Cans, Sebring Friends Church, Myers Family, P.I.E. (Partners In Education), Accent Home Improvement, Brunner’s Farm Market, Copeland Oaks residents (who would like to remain anonymous), Apex Control Systems, Industrial Wire Solutions, Tru Cut, Trinity Lutheran Church, Sebring Presbyterian Church, Scarpitti Foundation, United Women in Faith of Christ United, Methodist Church,
Alliance Elks, Sebring Salvation Army Unit, YWCA-Alliance, United Way of Youngstown & the Mahoning Valley, Tim Ramsayer, Keely Kandel, the Weibush family, and a Cincinnati “cheer mom.”
There were also several families who would like to remain anonymous, some of which are former third grade students who helped run the drive years ago and remembered the impact it had on them.
The district would also like to thank our volunteers who packed baskets, including John and Allison Everhart, Morgan Kincade and Macagey Laure, as well as basket deliverers, Debbie and Les Weibush, Morgan Kincade, Kathy Schroeder, Lynn Chiu and Joe, Leann and Macagey Laure.