In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, two local schools have recently held food drives to benefit the Williamsburg community.
Williamsburg Christian Academy
For the second year in a row, WCA held a school-wide Thanksgiving outreach project called “Giving From the Heart of the Academy.” The program will provide 100 Thanksgiving dinners to less fortunate families in the area.
The effort was carried out in partnership with 10 local churches. Farm Fresh Supermarkets also supported the project with a donation of 100 gift cards for families to use to purchase turkeys.
Along with the gift cards, families in need will receive an assortment of non-perishable food items suitable for a Thanksgiving meal.
WCA students in kindergarten through 12th grade have collected the food, while preschoolers created handmade cards. Student Council officers organized the packaging of the meals.
A Thanksgiving ceremony was held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, where pastors from the participating churches offered a blessing and took the meals to distribute. Any extra food will be donated to Grove Christian Outreach.
“During the holiday season and all year long, Williamsburg Christian Academy believes it is vitally important to teach our young people to lend a helping hand,” said Head of School Gwen Martin, in a news release.
“We are proud that our students do so with joy,” she said.
The churches involved are:
- Olive Branch Christian Church, Pastor Richard Cline
- James River Baptist Church, Pastor Scott Salsman
- Crosswalk Community Church, Pastor Mark Morrow
- Kentwood Heights Baptist Church, Pastor Dave Smith
- First Baptist Church, Reverend Reginald Davis
- LifePointe Christian Church, Phillip Murdock
- Relevant Church, Pastor Travis Watson
- Williamsburg Community Chapel, Assoc. Pastor Travis Simone
- Christ Community Church, Pastor Randy Garner
- Grace Covenant Church, Pastor Dennis Griffith
Reverend Jerry Jutras of Faith Fellowship, located across the street from WCA, assisted by storing the food as it was collected.
To learn more, visit WCA’s website.
Matthew Whaley Elementary School
Students at Matthew Whaley collected more than 15 boxes of food during the school’s drive, which was sponsored by the Student Council Association.
All donations will go to the Salvation Army Food Pantry to help families in need.
For additional information, visit Matthew Whaley’s website.
