FAIRBORN – The Fairborn City Schools Board of Education acknowledged Fairborn Kroger Marketplace for its collaboration in a district-wide food drive.
During the Oct. 5 school board meeting, School Board Member Pat McCoart presented a special recognition plaque to Kroger Marketplace Manager Brent Greene and expressed his appreciation, on behalf of the school district, to the local retailor for its support during the “Football for Food” Drive. The grocery supermarket, 1161 E. Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, opened its doors to student volunteers who collected donated, nonperishable food items at the store on Sept. 23 and 24. District Superintendent Mark North said more than 100 students participated in the food drive, and the school district collected 20,000 pounds of food items to benefit the Fairborn FISH Pantry.
Greene expressed his appreciation to North and the school board members and said the food drive was a concerted effort of many, especially the student volunteers who did most of the work. School Board President Andrew Wilson pointed out that Greene reserved one wall near the entrance of the store which was stacked high with nonperishable food items that shoppers could quickly access and buy for donations. Wilson also presented Greene with a companion certificate for the store.
McCoart also praised the efforts of retired schoolteachers, William and Jane Doorley, who help operate the FISH Food Pantry at the First Baptist Church Annex, 1149 N. Broad St. The nonprofit organization provides food and limited emergency financial aid to Fairborn and Bath Township residents, including U.S. service members, who are in need of public assistance.
“This FISH Pantry drive was really something else. I met Mark (North) out in the board’s parking lot at 6:30 one morning to help transfer the donated food items from large boxes to smaller ones,” McCoart said. “We took three truckloads of food to the pantry one day, and they told us that the school district’s donation was the largest, single donation in the history of the food pantry.”
North also presented an appreciation plaque to school boards members which recognized their great support and assistance during the food drive as well.
In other business, the school board unanimously approved the Baker Middle School eighth grade trip to Washington D.C. Each year, Baker Middle School students travel to Washington D.C. in May and experience much of the capital’s culture. This year, the students will visit many of the memorials and monuments along the National Mall, the US Holocaust Museum, and the World War II, Korean, and Vietnam War Memorials, as well as other national sites.
North then directed everyone’s attention to a large, metal plaque mounted on an easel in the high school media center that acknowledges community members and businesses that generously contributed to the “Put Fairborn Kids First” Committee.
He noted that the committee consisted of dedicated parents, grandparents, students, business leaders, school staff, and citizens who voluntarily worked to raise approximately $30,000 to promote the 2.95-mill school bond issue that voters approved during the general election last November. The tax dollars collected from the bond issue is co-funding the construction of two new school buildings in the district, with approximately 40 percent of the funding coming from the State of Ohio’s Facility Construction Commission (OFCC).
“The school district is not allowed to use personnel during school hours or school resources to work on any levy or bond issue campaign. The school district is not allowed to use school funds to raise money as well,” North explained.
North said the plaque would be placed on display at the Five Points Elementary School where it will remain until the construction of the new primary school building is completed. The plaque will then be moved to the new school building and placed on the wall in the lobby.
The Fairborn City School District Board of Education will meet again at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2 in the media center at Fairborn High School, 900 E. Dayton Yellow Springs Road.
