A teacher raised over $100.000 to buy enough food to prevent thousands of children from going hungry during the winter holidays
The library teacher, a 34-year-old at Lakewood Elementary School in Durham, North Carolina, does everything to prove it. Her most recent gesture of love was her recent fundraiser, which raised $106.000 to feed her students in need.
"It's a basic human right," Parker said that's food, and it's a fundamental thing." "We need to make sure that we care about our schools because when we take care of our schools, we care about our community."
In her endeavor, which she calls Mrs. Parker Professors of Food Collecting, she used the money she had raised to purchase, pack and distribute more than 5,200 bags full of food to students at 12 schools across the Durham Public School District.
In dozens of schools assisted by the project, 98% of students rely on free or low-cost lunches provided by their school. For many children, it is their primary source of food. But as soon as the holidays come, schools close as well as cafeterias.
"Ms. Parker has always had an army of donors and volunteers on standby to support the needs of her students," Lakewood Elementary School Principal James Hopkins told CNN in a statement. "What is impressive is that these efforts have afforded students all over Durham the same wealth; in this case, having a good portion of food during the extended holiday period."
"I want them to know that I love them."
"I wanted to be a teacher all my life," said Parker, who has been a teacher for 11 years. "That's what I love, all I wanted to do, I'm living my dream."
Now the mother of one of the children teaches more than 400 students, from kindergarten to fifth grade, and her love for them goes beyond the classroom.
"I call my students Mrs. Parker's professors," Parker said. "If that tells you anything, I believe in and love them very much." "I want them to know I love them, to remind them that love is an action word. I'll tell them all day, but I'll also show them all day."
Her promise to conserve all of her students' food began in 2015 when one of her parents assured her that they would not have enough food for her children during the holiday period.
She told me, 'I'll be fine, I can go without eating, but I can't let my kids go without eating for two weeks. "It's tough to know that they have things like this going, and they're not doing everything I can," Parker said, crying.
On December 14, 2015, Parker sent a text message to everyone she knew, asking if anyone would be interested in donating money so that she could have bags full of food for them for the duration of the holiday.
Progress has been slow but steady. In the first year, I collected $500. Last year, it reached $55,000. But this year, there is a record, with more than $106,000 being donated from people across the country.
"It left me speechless," Parker said. "I've been crying about it a little bit every day." It took off in a way we never expected."
Within two weeks, Professors Foodraisers Ms. Parker raised funds to purchase enough food to fill sizeable brown grocery bags for thousands of children in the area.
Each bag contains baby-friendly food, such as cereal, canned goods, granola bars, macaroni, and cheese that can be cooked no matter the family's living conditions.
"This is a community effort," Parker said. "This is not $106,000 out of my pocket; this is the result of our work as a group." "It's because of all the people who put in their time, money, and talents to make sure our children are taken care of."
There were more than 60 volunteers who accompanied Parker to the local Costco; the group purchased food and spent days packing the bags before it was delivered to each school by December 11.
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