(UnitedVoice.com) – Teachers across America go above and beyond. They put in long hours, spend their own money on supplies and often make huge impacts in the lives of their students just by lending an ear to them. One teacher doesn’t just help her students, but also those within her community.
Seven years ago, teacher Turquoise LeJeune Parker began the Professors Foodraiser in Durham, North Carolina, to feed hungry kids. She started raising money for the cause after a parent asked her where their family could find food over a school break. When she realized families needed help, she began recruiting volunteers, telling them that she wanted to send each of her 22 kids home with a bag of nonperishable food items.
The year Parker started the project, she was able to send her class home with food. The next year she did it again and fed the whole grade. After that, she fed two grades. In 2021, she raised over $103,000.
This teacher fundraised more than $100,000 and spent it all on food at Costco to ensure that 5,100 students don't go hungry over the holidays https://t.co/Of4tPTSDyN
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 16, 2021
Lowe’s donated an 18-wheel truck, a forklift, employees and bags to help the cause. That allowed Parker and her foodraising partner, T. Greg Doucette, to fill the truck up with food purchased from Costco. Volunteers at Lakewood Elementary School packed it all up and put it in U-Hauls to send to seven schools. Over 5,000 kids received a bag to take home, making it the most successful year to date.
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