By Craig Ramey
Craven Community College got into the holiday spirit a little early this year with help from local businesses and donors who provided students with a Thanksgiving Feast and additional items that could be donated to local families in need.
“After the hurricane, our student clubs and organizations wanted to do something special for our Craven family,” said Emily Stewart, Craven CC campus life coordinator. “We contacted local businesses to see if they would like to get involved and the response was overwhelming.”
Lidl donated 100 bags of nonperishable food items that were distributed among Hurricane Florence survivors and Wal-Mart donated a $100 gift card to the cause.
The Hurst Student Ambassadors also organized a “Meal in a Bag” food drive that collected food items from students, staff and faculty from around the campus. The drive ended Nov. 16 with 100 bags that were filled and distributed to local families.
The Health Information Technology Club and Student Government Association organized a “Giving Tree” to help parents make their children’s Christmas wishes come true. The tree is decorated with requests from local children that are taken by members of the Craven CC family and replaced with new, unwrapped toys.
“Seeing students, businesses and individuals come together and organize in such a powerful giving way makes me proud and inspired to be a part of this College and community,” said Stewart.
The community came out to support the students as well with food donations that were used to host Thanksgiving dinners held Nov. 19 and 20 on both campuses. Donations included food from Strange & Sons, The Chelsea, Bojangles, Panera Bread, Starbucks and Dr. David and Anna Hurst. The Tiny Tornado also served 110 Thanksgiving tacos on the Havelock campus. Academy Sports helped round out the Thanksgiving dinner experience by donating footballs and soccer balls that could be used for pickup games on the lawn.