The Office of Community Outreach is proud to announce that Lees-McRae students, faculty and staff helped to meet and exceed the goal of 50 meals for the Thanksgiving meal drive during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Fifty-four Thanksgiving meals, $500 in grocery gift cards and over $300 in monetary donations were delivered to the Avery County Food Bank on Monday, November 23.
The Office of Community Outreach hosts a meal or canned food drive every year during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week to raise awareness on campus about local hunger challenges and to help meet a need in the community.
Director of Community Outreach Selena Hilemon said, “While food drives do not address the root causes of hunger in our community, it is a wonderful way to invite our campus to give back to the surrounding community, while educating the campus on the issues at large.”
Lees-McRae typically partners with Janet Millsaps, Director of Reaching Avery Ministry (RAM) to determine the need county-wide. This year, Millsaps identified 100 families in need of a Thanksgiving meal and set the goal of 50 meals for Lees-McRae; the other 50 meals were matched by a local church.
Hilemon was very pleased with the way students, faculty and staff responded to the goal of 50 meals. “It is a pleasure to work with RAM every year, and I hope that Lees-McRae can continue to support RAM and other local agencies that serve the needs of our community,” Hilemon said.