December 14, 2009

News Release

REL Staff and Students Share in the “Gift of Giving”

A small project that started among a few staff members grew into a school-wide project.   Employees at Robert E. Lee High School began collecting items to send to service men and women shortly after the Thanksgiving break. The items were boxed up and sent to service men and women from addresses received from staff members.  The remaining boxes were addressed to a Chaplain in Afghanistan and to an Officer in the Medical Unit in Iraq, both are from Tyler.  These two individuals take special care to distribute boxes to service men and women who seldom receive packages.

            The “gift of giving” project grew as news spread throughout the campus. It did not take the students long to see what was going on and want to give as well.  Students participated in this project not as an assignment, but to share in the giving to help support the soldiers away from home.   

“The afternoon my elves (volunteers) and I boxed all these items up in the Lee cafeteria was amazing,” said Marcia Rushing, staff member at Robert E. Lee High School.   “REL had at least 200 students helping and staff members to help coordinate.  I just wished that more people could see what I saw, teenagers helping and working together for a good cause.  I am so proud of the whole campus.  Hopefully, we can make this an annual project.”          

Together the staff and students collected enough items to fill 95 boxes.  In addition, they raised more than $1,100 needed for the postage to ship the boxes to the soldiers.  The soldiers should receive their presents by Christmas.

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