Contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — May 18, 2018
(DALLAS) — Hunger doesn’t take a holiday during the summer — especially for Dallas County Community College District students who are food insecure. DCCCD and all seven of its colleges — Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake and Richland — are involved in raising funds and providing nutritious food that will help keep food pantries stocked throughout the hot months ahead.
One of those efforts began during the spring semester when DCCCD held its first "Heroes Run — First In, Last Out" on April 14 ... an event that will be held each spring and will rotate among the seven DCCCD colleges.
The event was created for two reasons: to celebrate the brave and committed persons who rescue, protect and serve their communities both at home and abroad — first responders and military personnel; and to honor their spirit of service and support the DCCCD college food banks.
Many DCCCD police officers participated in the run, and other first responders were there, too, for the 5K race and a special obstacle course designed for the event. The event also offered a number of fun-filled activities for families.
Brookhaven College hosted the first "Heroes Run”; more than 170 people registered, and more than 120 showed up that day, which was a very cold and wet Saturday.
The event raised more than $15,000 for DCCCD’s college food banks. Each college received a percentage of the proceeds, based on the number of food-insecure students enrolled on their campuses. The district had almost 22,000 food-insecure students across its seven colleges in spring 2018, based on statistics provided by DCCCD's Data Depot, which does systemic analytics for the district.
DCCCD Police Chief Lauretta Hill said, "We all have a responsibility to provide the best learning environment for our students, and DCCCD PD was excited to be a part of stocking our food pantries." Cpl. Vikki Ethington, DCCCD Police officer at Brookhaven College, organized the first "Heroes Run" event.
Again, keeping in mind that hunger doesn't take a vacation in the summer and that some DCCCD food-insecure students have youngsters at home to feed then, too, the DCCCD Foundation launched its “Stock the Pantry” campaign several weeks ago.
The four-week, internal and external campaign seeks to raise funds that will do exactly what the campaign title says: assist DCCCD’s seven colleges with raising funds for their food pantries.
Adrienne Thompson, senior director of strategic partnership development with the DCCCD Foundation, said, "We are asking the DCCCD community and members of the communities we serve to donate and share that link with their networks for this worthy cause. The funds donated will be used to purchase food for our students in need."
To help, visit the
Stock the Pantry donation site.
"The Stock the Pantry campaign, managed by the DCCCD Foundation, is raising funds to support food pantries at each of our seven colleges so that students can access nutritious foods and stay in school,” said Dr. Pyeper Wilkins, DCCCD’s chief advancement officer and executive director for the DCCCD Foundation. “Our intent for this campaign is to provide our college food pantries with resources to assist students with food insecurities; to create awareness amongst our college community and network; and lastly, to make sure our students know that we care about their well-being."
Wilkins adds, "So far, the campaign has raised 42 percent of its overall goal, and we have about two weeks left. The response from the colleges and our community partners such as Kroger and First Richardson Helpers has been fantastic. Our goal is to continue to get the word out and ask for support so that our students will have a means to provide nutritious meals for themselves and their families."
The foundation hopes to engage all kinds of external people and groups who might never know about DCCCD’s “Stock the Pantry” campaign by using a crowdfunding mechanism and connecting through a variety of digital networks.
Following its partnership launch last fall with DCCCD through the foundation, the North Texas Food Bank’s mobile food pantry continues to visit DCCCD colleges to provide nutritious food to those who need it.
Again, to donate, visit the
Stock the Pantry donation site.
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