Battle Ground Public Schools collect food, toys for the holidays

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Battle Ground Public Schools gathered thousands of pounds of food and other items during student-led donation drives.

The donation drives gathered food for local food banks, provided gifts to families through giving tree programs, and the district held drive-thru holiday celebrations, a news release from Battle Ground Public Schools said.

“Visiting the schools and seeing the enthusiasm of our students and the generosity of our community has been truly inspirational,” said Superintendent Denny Waters in the release. “We’re especially grateful for our teachers and staff who go above and beyond to organize all of these events, no matter how busy they already are.”

Pleasant Valley Primary and middle school combined their donation drives and brought in over 20,000 cans and boxes of food. They also collected 1,100 pairs of socks over eight days, the release said. As for Glenwood Heights Primary, they accumulated over 3,300 food items despite an initial goal of 500. Daybreak schools were able to collect more than 8,000 pounds of food, which they brought to the Clark County Food Bank. At Captain Strong Primary, students brought in 2,100 food items to the North County Community Food Bank, the release stated.



“Few things inspire me as much as young student leaders working to help others,” Alan Hamilton, president of the Clark County Food Bank, stated in the release. “What has happened amongst the students in Battle Ground Public Schools is truly inspiring as they work to help others in need. It gives me hope. More importantly, it provides hope to families in our community who are in need.”

For the high schools, Battle Ground’s food pantry received more than 500 food items, while the Falcon Forest Christmas tree competition at Prairie brought in 1,100 canned food donations. Several of the school’s students in the Crimson Crew held their own toy drive, which gathered 200 toys for families in need, the release said. Summit View High School also handed out gifts to 24 families through its giving tree and facilitated a blood drive which collected over 20 units for the American Red Cross.

Amboy Middle School and Yacolt Primary teamed up with 42 families through the giving tree program, the release stated. The students also managed to give over 125 boxes of non-perishable food to the North County Community Food Bank and the Lions Club. Hundreds of people attended Laurin Middle School’s Winter Wonderland drive-thru event, which garnered 135 gifts for 28 families that was also part of the giving tree program. Glenwood Heights put together a large holiday food box and grocery gift cards for 12 families. At Pleasant Valley schools, eight families received gifts for the holidays, according to the release.

A video of the district’s accomplishments this holiday season can be found at youtube.com/watch?v=bShNJKmE-n0.