Christmas Cheer Food Drive Collects 60,291 Pounds of Food
Christmas Cheer Food Drive Collects 60,291 Pounds of Food
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, Paragon Casino Resort and KALB-TV sponsor Food Drive benefiting the Food Bank of Central Louisiana
The results of the 2024 KALB-TV Christmas Cheer Food Drive are complete, and 60,291 pounds of non-perishable food items were collected from Avoyelles, Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides and Vernon parish schools, according to Jayne Wright-Velez, executive director of the Food Bank of Central Louisiana. Sponsored by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, Paragon Casino Resort and KALB-TV, local schools participated in the drive to help collect food for the Food Bank of Central Louisiana.
The total amount collected in Avoyelles parish was 13,192 pounds, 8,000 pounds in Grant parish, 3,001 pounds in Natchitoches parish, 21,213 pounds in Rapides parish and 14,885 pounds in Vernon parish.
The following schools led their parish in donations:
Avoyelles – Plaucheville Elementary School (2,951 pounds) and Bunkie High School (5,024 pounds).
Grant – South Grant Elementary School (3,927 pounds), Grant Junior High (354 pounds) and Georgetown High School (1,314 pounds).
Natchitoches – Fairview Alpha Elementary School (210 pounds), Natchitoches Magnet (853 pounds) and Natchitoches Central High School (505 pounds).
Rapides – Phoenix Magnet Elementary School (4,187 pounds), Pineville Junior High (1,911 pounds) and Glenmora High School (1,387 pounds). Phoenix Magnet Elementary School also took home the top prize for donating the most pounds per student (13.42 pounds per student).
Vernon – Rosepine Elementary School (3,829 pounds), Vernon Middle School (497 pounds) and Rosepine High School (6,207 pounds).
Eight thousand dollars in prize money from the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe and Paragon Casino Resort will be distributed to these schools for their outstanding efforts to help the Food Bank of Central Louisiana.
“We are so thankful for the contributions from the students and their families who donated food for the Christmas Cheer Food Drive. We realize that these donations are indeed sacrifices with the cost of food today,” said Jayne Wright-Velez, executive director of the Food Bank of Central Louisiana. “We are also grateful for the support of all the school personnel from the participating schools in all five parishes, the City of Natchitoches Public Works Department, the Vernon Parish Police Jury, Grant Parish Police Jury and Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office, Paragon Casino Resort, The Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Office, KALB and the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe.”
“We are dedicated to supporting and uplifting all members of Central Louisiana and putting all our neighbors on a path to succeed,” said Marshall Ray Sampson, Sr., General Manager of Paragon Casino Resort and Vice Chairman of Tunica-Biloxi. “We are immensely thankful to our local students for coming together, being the change they wish to see in the world and helping to alleviate food insecurity in our region.”
