Dallas Campus Pharmacy Technician Students Hold “PJs for the Pantry” Drive to Feed the Hungry in North Texas
To help the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) in its pursuit of a hunger-free community, Pharmacy Technician (PT) Department Chair Helen Ann Vance and the PT faculty and students at Remington College – Dallas Campus organized a food drive on December 23, 2009.
Dubbed 'PJs for the Pantry,' students were allowed to wear pajamas to class in exchange for donating one canned food item. In a single day, the Campus collected an impressive 1,300 pounds of food.
'The entire Allied Health building participated, including students in the Medical Assisting, Medical Billing and Coding and Pharmacy Technician programs,' said Ms. Vance.
The food was collected, sorted, and boxed by the PT participants for Christmas Eve delivery to the NTFB by Ms. Vance, accompanied by her son Lorenzo, age 12. 'It took four trips to deliver all the donations,' noted Ms. Vance. Motivated by the success of their one-day effort, the students continued their donations of food even after the holiday season, with the drive to date yielding 1,440 pounds of food.
'Our students stepped up in a big way because of Helen Ann’s involvement in stressing the importance of giving back to the community and helping people who are less fortunate. And their charitable efforts are continuing well into 2010,' said Dallas Campus President Skip Walls.
'“There was no competition between classes, just one objective: to give back to the community. This effort reinforced my belief that our Dallas students always exceed expectations and set a higher standard. I’m very proud to be associated with them and with Remington College,' said Ms. Vance.