Gainesville Center Organizes Thanksgiving Collection

November 22, 2010

Education students in a Saturday class at Saint Leo University’s Gainesville (FL) Center helped celebrate the success of a holiday canned-food drive to help the local office of Catholic Charities. Students from the center, along with faculty and staff, contributed more than 600 non-perishable items for the agency’s food pantry. The center staff had set a goal of 500 items for this first-time effort, noted Dawn McElveen, center director, so everyone was thrilled with the results and the generosity the center community displayed in so many ways. The happy contributors in the photo, for instance, are future teachers enrolled in a Saturday course on teaching techniques for use with English-language learners. Assistant Professor Joanne Roberts’ teaching interns topped other center teams with its total of 162 items. Faculty helped publicize the drive. Staffers worked extra hours so they make collections during evening class sessions for the convenience of students. The food was delivered to the agency on the Monday before Thanksgiving.