Student ingenuity leads to record-breaking food drive

Mount Vernon community donated 3,765 items to nonprofit.

Each year, the Mount Vernon Presbyterian School community and its partner, Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, hold its Share the Well Food Drive to benefit the Community Assistance Center located in Sandy Springs.

And like many organizations, the partners held their annual drive around Thanksgiving. But all of that changed after a challenge was presented to the students.

“Our students conducted a design thinking challenge focused on homelessness, (and) they learned the leanest time of the year for many people in need is in the spring and summer. So last year we made the decision to officially hold our food drive each year in April,” said Allison Toller, chief of brand strategy and partnerships. This year’s Share the Well drive was held for two weeks leading into Easter.

CAC is a vital organization in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody that provides tools and resources to families facing financial difficulties; and the center helps individuals not only find short-term stability, but also long-term solutions and self-sufficiency.

The Mount Vernon community donated 3,765 items weighing in at 5,000 pounds — filling an entire moving truck twice — making this the largest collection and donation in the school’s history. After the drive, students in fourth grade returned to CAC to sort the thousands of donated items.

Conlan Weeks, a sixth-grader, collected over 500 items for donation. “My parents believe in giving back to the community, and through them I am learning why it is important to give to others,” he shared. “It’s important to give back because it can really change people’s lives by helping them get a job, a home, so they can get back on their feet.”

In other news: Avalon hosted the third annual Heart & Sole 5K on April 22 benefiting the Lionheart School. Over 500 runners raised $14,000 for the non-profit school in Alpharetta for children with autism or other disorders of relating or communicating.

The Mount Vernon community donated 3,765 items weighing in at 5,000 pounds — filling an entire moving truck twice — making this the largest collection and donation in the school’s history.