SAN BENITO — One teacher in San Benito is trying to create a culture of giving in her classroom.
Olga Reyes is an English teacher at Veterans Memorial Academy and has spent the first half of the school year with her students hosting drives to collect items needed in the community.
In October, her students hosted a shoe drive and hoped to collect 150 pairs of shoes.
By the end of the drive, her students had gathered more than 500 pairs of shoes to donate.
Reyes said she often hears comments from her students on how good it feels to give.
“It is totally worth having my classroom invaded with boxes,” Reyes said.
After the success of the shoe drive, her students wanted to continue the giving and decided to host another drive to benefit the food pantry.
Rather than ask for cans of food, they decided to collect breakfast items, an often forgotten food group.
The class set a goal to fill 12 boxes or collect 120 breakfast items such as pancake mix or cereal to help the food pantry during the holidays.
When the collection was over, the class was able to donate 357 breakfast items.
“One of my goals this year was to include a culture of giving and what better time than Christmas,” Reyes said.
After loading the boxes onto a trailer, Reyes said her students continued to comment on how good it felt to give.
“It felt totally amazing to see what an effort such a drive can impact young lives,” Reyes said. “Not to mention the community who will benefit during this time when giving to the pantry is scarce.”
Reyes’ classroom will continue the spirit of giving past the holiday season with a tiara drive in February.
To donate to the food pantry, call 956-572-0003
