BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Raising Holiday Cheer at Awty

By Alina Syed, The Awty International School, School Buzz Reporter | January 20, 2022

Click the Buzz Me button to receive email notifications when this writer publishes a new article or a new article in this column is published.

The Awty Middle School Student Council gathering donation boxes.

‘Tis the season for giving back! For the 2021 holiday season, The Awty International School’s Middle School Student Council collected and packed just over 50 boxes of food for the ABC 13 food drive. All of the food was donated to benefit the Houston Food Bank. ABC 13’s Share Your Holidays Food Drive, now in its 41st year, is an annual event benefiting the Houston Food Bank. The Houston community showed their holiday spirit by donating food in a local Red Barrel or during the event’s live broadcast. During the week, those who experienced food insecurity called the request line to reserve a special holiday food box. Awty decided to participate in the wonderful drive this past year to encourage students to donate and give back to our community.

The Middle School Student Council gathered a lot of support from the whole school to donate to the food drive. The Council started opening donations in November 2021 and donated to the Food Bank by December 17, 2021. Boxes were placed throughout different locations of the school to make it more organized for each grade to place their donations.

Awty faculty and staff were very impressed with the Middle School Student Council for initiating this drive at school and for the amount of donations received.

“We really had a great turnout for the food drive. The food drive completely exceeded our goals,” stated Ms. Deana Alexander, a Secondary School science teacher and faculty sponsor of the Awty Middle School Student Council.

In addition, the President of the Student Council, 8th grader Sara Alonso Sancho, explained the intentions behind the drive. “I wanted the Council to encourage all students to practice donating to charity and giving back to our community, especially during the holiday season. I believe that we successfully reached our goals with this food drive, and I am so proud of the students and faculty for participating in this project!”

The Awty International School will continue to participate in raising money and donations for important organizations, such as the Houston Food Bank, for the New Year and is excited for new opportunities for students to participate in community service. The ABC 13 drive was an amazing and fun example for raising holiday cheer at Awty!