GREENVILLE– St. Paul’s Lutheran Church’s Social Ministry Committee has done it again.
This week, Greenville Senior High School received a generous donation from the committee to help students who qualify for certain programs.
Dr. Andrea Townsend, now the director of career technical and special education at Greenville Senior High, was principal at the former Woodland Heights Elementary School when she and Mike Meckes of the church committee collaborated on the school backpack program quite a few years back. Now, they’re working together with others for this first-time project at the high school.
The backpack food programs provided nutritious, non-perishable, easy-to-prepare food to children to ensure they get enough food on weekends and holidays to avoid hunger when they can’t depend on school meals. This program was only for those up to fifth grade.
“This is similar to the backpack program,” Townsend said. “With these donations, high school students can receive food with the gift certificates they will be presented.”
Meckes said the gift certificates come from various restaurants and food stores in both the north and south ends of the city to benefit the students in the neighborhoods.
“We donated $500 worth of gift certificates,” he said.
Townsend, who is in her 19th year with the school district, also noted the generous amount, $2,000 the church committee also donated will go to the Change for Change program at the high school.
“It will enable those students who are behind on school fees to be able to graduate,” she said. “There are those who qualify for Title I funding, which is at a high rate. And this helps with other things as well.”
Meckes’ wife, Shelly, said the money for this Social Ministry Committee contribution comes from the offerings at the church.
“We, as a church, set aside a benevolence fund out of every offering we get,” she said.
Other members of the committee, in addition to the Meckeses, include Pastor Alan Knobe, Virginia Kagey and Mike Lemon.
Stan Hughes, Greenville High School principal, expressed his appreciation to the church committee and its generous donation.
