According to the North Texas Food Bank, one in six North Texans doesn't know where they will find their next meal. Food insecurity is a huge issue for college students, and here at Mountain View College, we are doing something about it.
Last month, we held our second Feed the Lions Pack the Pantry Food Drive to help our students, colleagues and community members put food on the table. In 2018, our goal was 5,000 pounds of food, and we brought in more than 10,000. For 2019, we set our sights on exceeding last year’s 10,000 pounds of food. Because of the MVC family and community partners’ commitment to our students and surrounding neighbors, the 2019 Feed the Lions Pack the Pantry Food Drive was a complete success. Almost 14,500 pounds of food was raised during the month of November.
Our president, Dr. Beatriz Joseph, and our vice presidents, Dr. Sharon Davis, Dr. Lori Doddy and Dr. Leonard Garrett, would like to recognize and thank our community partners for supporting this year’s food drive. Those partners include:
LULAC – Dallas/National (5,035 lbs.)
Eastland Street Baptist Church (2,676 lbs.)
Cathy’s Friends & Family (1,235 lbs.)
Mexican Consulate (860 lbs.)
Austin Industries (780 lbs.)
The Village United Methodist Church (709 lbs.)
The Regional Hispanic Contractors Association (490 lbs.)
MVC Subway (326 lbs.)
YMCA – Moreland (243 lbs.)
Gospel Light House Church (218 lbs.)
HD Waste & Ecycling (198.5 lbs.)
In addition, several of our student clubs including TRIo, SGA and Phi Theta Kappa; students and faculty in English and Health/Fitness classes; the Dance department, the MVC Magic Show and the MVC Police Department raised several hundred pounds of food.
Our baseball team helped pick up more than 2,600 lbs. of donated food, and Keith McKinnon (Health/Fitness faculty member) and Eric McKinney (Fitness Center supervisor) assisted with daily donation pickups across the county.
We welcome donations to our Feed the Lions food pantry throughout the year as our fight against hunger is ongoing. For information on how to help, contact Cathy Edwards at cedwards@dcccd.edu.