During the exciting back to school season, many students who will later in the year be dreading getting up in the morning are ready to get new gear and supplies to head back into the classroom. However, there are also parents and families that are struggling just to make sure there is food on the table every day. For those parents, buying the supplies that their children need for school is less of a priority than making sure they have food to eat and a place to live.
Because of this pressure on families that are struggling, the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Cincinnati, Ohio decided to host the third annual School Supply Drive at their campus. They wanted to make the greatest impact possible in their support for local children and families in need, choosing to partner with Christ Tabernacle Apostolic Church and secretary Darlene Harding. Forming these partnerships helped to increase their impact and meet the needs of more area families and students.
Throughout the drive, the staff, faculty, and students at the campus collected a variety of school supply donations. Then, they were able to present all that they had collected to the church during their scheduled school supply event. There was a great turnout at the event with children of all ages in attendance. There was also a variety of fun things to do like face painting, games, and food. Each child that attended received a pack of school supplies.
The students had a great time collecting supplies and getting the opportunity to be a part of making a child’s day and taking some of the pressure off of struggling families. To add to the fun, they held a contest on the campus to see which class could collect the most supplies for the drive. In the end, the students in the Cincinnati Medical Assistant program were the winners and the lucky recipients of a taco party! Everyone at the Ross Cincinnati campus was thrilled to be a part of this event and they are already looking forward to the partnership again next year.