November 8, 2011- Omaha Serves, an initiative of Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle aimed at eradicating poverty by promoting volunteerism and civic engagement, in collaboration with Together, Inc., Sam and Louie’s Pizza and Omaha Public Schools, announced today that it collected over 25,000 pounds of food for Together Inc., through its Making the Grade to End Hunger program.
The program worked with 17 schools throughout Omaha to host can food drives and Sam and Louie’s Pizza volunteered to provide a pizza party to the winning classroom. “Each participating classroom had a blue donation bin for the two weeks of the project, totaling enough donations for a week’s worth of food for 700 families,” said Jessie Bowman, Lemonade Days City Director. “The kids and teachers worked so hard with this project.”
The schools that collected the most food were:
1. Columbian Elementary: Approximately 4,000 lbs
2. Miller Park Elementary: 2,853 lbs
3. Liberty Elementary: 2,761 lbs
4. Ashland Park – Robbins Elementary: 1,508 lbs
5. Beals Elementary: 1,303 lbs
6. Adams Elementary: 978 lbs
“We were thrilled that so many schools participated,” said Joe Griffith, Director of Marketing and Operations for Sam and Louie’s. “We even had a class that won vote not to have the party and donated the money to Together Inc. That just shows how giving of a community we have.”
“The power of kids is amazing and invigorating. We should all have their enthusiasm for problem solving and compassion for strangers,” said Michelle Moyes Dill, Executive Director of Together, Inc.
Omaha Serves is supported by a Cities of Service Leadership Grant, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. For more information, please visit: CitiesofService.org
For more information or to get involved with Omaha Serves, please visit: OmahaServes.org
