Posted on Mar 03, 2022
Plano West Rotary Club (PWRC) is continuing its steadfast support of Plano Independent School District’s 2021-2022 school-year meal distributions that help feed local students and their families.
 
The numbers from the November, December, January and February distributions are in. At 11 events over those four months, PWRC volunteers assisted Plano ISD staff with providing 27,055 pounds of fresh produce and pantry items, and 620 boxes of pantry items to families. An average of 370 families per month were served.
 
See the numbers from August through October here.
 
Rotarians James Thomas, also a Plano ISD employee, and Katherine Goodwin, a longtime Plano ISD volunteer, have continued to serve every month as leaders of this service project. They have led club members Isabel Segovia, Joanna Snowden, Fred Bemenderfer, John Stafford, Marty James, Brian Joseph and several other community volunteers in serving 60 hours altogether these past four months.
 
 
The distributions occur once a month at three Plano campuses – Armstrong Middle School, Bowman Middle School and Rowlinson Community Natatorium (next door to Williams High School). Minnie’s Food Bank and North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) provide the food for these events.
 
At the March 1 club meeting, NTFB CEO Trisha Cunningham thanked our club for our help feeding hungry North Texans, stating that Collin County has the second-highest number of food-insecure residents in the large area the food bank serves. Within that area, one out of every five children are food-insecure. Our club is directly helping to alleviate that problem.
 
These drive-through meal distributions also support two of Rotary’s Areas of Focus: growing local economies and supporting education.
 
“By providing for the nutritional needs of students, we are ensuring the students better health, attendance and performance at school. Additionally, the value of the meals enables families to reallocate the dollars saved towards other living expenses. A healthier and better-educated population leads to growth in local economies,” said Katherine.
 
If your passion is supporting students, teachers or local underserved families, you can always volunteer at our meal distribution projects even if you’re not a member of PWRC. Upcoming distributions are March 22, 24 and 28. Sign up to serve here.