Jessieville School District to take part in cereal drive
JESSIEVILLE — The Jessieville School District will be participating in the THV11 and Arkansas Food Bank Summer Cereal Drive on Saturday at the CVS Pharmacy, 3630 Central Ave., from 9 a.m. to noon.
“The great thing about (the cereal drive) is that all of the money, all of the food and all of the cereal raised right here in our community stays in our community. So, it is helping the kids that we see every day. I think that’s one of the greatest things about it. It’s just a way for the rest of us to give back,” Superintendent Melissa Speers said.
“It was created to give the kids breakfast during the summer because most of them eat at school, so during the summer, a lot of the kids will not have breakfast so (the cereal drive) provides that,” Chris Davis, technology assistant, said.
The district hopes to be able to help feed the kids in the area that would otherwise go without eating breakfast, he said.
“There are roughly 5,000 kids in Garland County that suffer from food insecurity. Monetary donations will be accepted as well, with each dollar donated (that is) a box of cereal (being brought),” Davis said in an email on Monday.
He said the cereal drive is asking for cereal, Pop Tarts, toaster pastries, cereal bars and oatmeal. The drive was going to do fresh fruit this year, but couldn’t due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Davis said THV11 created the event with the Arkansas Food Bank. Each year, teams can sign up and compete with others to see who can raise the most cereal, and Davis noted Jessieville has participated for the past seven years.
“We are very proud of doing it every year. We like to contribute and give back to our community every way we can. Feeding the kids is a big part of who we are,” he said.
Davis said the most stressful part about doing the drive during the COVID-19 pandemic is not being able to collect items from the schools.
“Normally, classrooms have competitions against each other. The middle school dance would have an admission for a box of cereal. We have lost a lot of collection that way,” he said.
The district’s goal is 2,500 boxes for the drive, Davis said, noting the district has around 2,000 boxes so far.
The district wants the community to know they need all the help they can get to make sure the kids in Garland County have a good breakfast, he said.
All cereal and money donated will go to the Arkansas Food Bank for local food pantries to access. Online donations can be made, as well. For more information, you may email the team captain at chris.davis@jsdlions.net.