This elementary school teacher from North Carolina raised more than $100K for the students in need during the Christmas season and helped them have a full belly during the holiday season.
Turquoise LeJeune Parker, a teacher at Lakewood Elementary in Durham, NC hosts a fundraiser every year and the money is used for the students who have less.
This year’s fundraising went amazing and she gathered more than $106,000. She was left speechless and said she cried a bit and cries a bit every day because this touched her deeply.
The Money Were Used for Groceries Distributed to all Students in Need
Parker, along with her volunteers, took the money and went into a local Costco where they purchased a variety of non-perishable groceries that were later packed and delivered to more than 5100 students from dozen Durham schools whose families had a higher risk of being hungry during the Christmas break.
Parker explained that two weeks is a long time being out of school without getting breakfast or lunch there.
Families and kids need three meals per day and kids eat a lot and food is expensive. Of the 12 schools where the students got loads of groceries, 98 percent get free or reduced lunch at school.
This Year’s Donations Were the Highest, Explains Parker
Unfortunately, for many of them, schools give them their only meal.
Parker is proud that this year’s ‘foodraiser’ was the biggest one yet. Back in 2018, they gathered $7000 and it was the first time this event was organized and they managed to feed the whole school.
This year, the higher sum of money allowed them to purchase food for the school support staff too, including the drivers of the buses and the workers at the cafeteria.
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