Coppell Lions collect toys at the Coppell Middle School North Winter Band Concert. An unwrapped toy for the Holiday Food and Toy Drive was suggested as the price of admission to the concert.
Coppell Lions Holiday Food and Toy Drive
The Coppell Lions Club recently sponsored its annual food and toy drive. The drive raised over 4 tons of food, bags of toys for almost 350 children, and many gift cards. Now in its 31st year, the Holiday Food and Toy Drive is a partnership between the Coppell Lions Club, the Coppell Independent School District and RE/MAX DFW Associates.
The drive begins each year with the Coppell schools. Coppell teachers, administrators and counselors take a leadership role in introducing the concept to the students, often as part of a project based learning initiative. Coppell Lions visit with students in many of the schools to help kick off the drive. The students take it from there, organizing the drive in a way that they believe will work best in their school, then encouraging fellow students to participate and donate. This year 14 Coppell schools participated in the drive.
Coppell school nurse and counselors are also very helpful in helping to reach out to families that might benefit from the drive, so those families can contact the Lions if interested.
Once the schools complete their drives, the Lions stop by to pick up the proceeds. Several schools have assemblies or presentations when the Lions arrive, so the students can see the results of their efforts. The Lions consolidate all of the donated items, and sort the canned goods. The Lions supplement the canned goods with turkeys, flour, sugar and potatoes for each family.
Real estate agents from RE/MAX DFW Associates then jump into action. Led by Christine Glidewell, they organize the toys and provide gift cards where appropriate. They also handle delivery, this year to 105 Coppell families.
“This is truly a community effort,” said Dan Madden, Coppell Lions Club President. “We really appreciate our relationships with the Coppell schools and with RE/MAX. We love working with them to help brighten the holidays for our neighbors. We’d also like to thank our many sponsors, including Frost Bank, Robertson Pools and The Rich-Adams-Edwards Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors.”