NTC Churches Gather Donations To Meet Student, Teacher Needs

Friendship UMC and St. Philip's helping local schools with water bottles, survival packets

For the second year, Friendship UMC in Sherman embarked on a mission project to serve the students of Sherman ISD.

In 2019, the church collected over 1,000 articles of underwear and socks – the greatest need at that time. This year, the critical need for the district is reusable water bottles. Students do not have access to water fountains in the time of COVID-19 and are asked to bring filled bottles to school with them each day. Each school has safe places to refill the bottles, if needed. Some students simply cannot afford the bottles, some get lost, broken, left at home, etc., so a supply of bottles at each campus is critical.

In a little over a week's time, the members and friends of Friendship UMC collected over 500 bottles, which were delivered to the Sherman ISD on Aug. 31. The church will collect bottles and money to purchase them throughout the semester. The bottles were received by Dr. David Hicks, Superintendent and Julie Mitchell, Director of Partners in Education and After School Program. Dr. Roy Spore, pastor of Friendship UMC, was joined by members of the church to deliver the water bottles.

In response to today's trying times for our teachers, St. Philip's UMC in Garland recently donated 150 “Teacher's Survival Packets” to the staff members of Charlie R. Lyles Middle School and Ida Handley Elementary School. St. Philip's has a long history of supporting both students and teachers at these nearby schools. The church has provided luncheons for teachers, school supplies for the children and uniforms for the students.

Published: Wednesday, September 2, 2020