Roanoke City Public Schools: ROTEC Students Continue Tradition Of Supporting Annual Elks Thanksgiving Food Drive

Press release from Roanoke City Public Schools:

11/23/2021

At first glance, the health and medical sciences students look a bit out of place standing in the middle of the Elks Lodge dressed in their blue scrubs. But this is exactly where they belong. Surrounded by tables of food, the students quickly but methodically hustle up and down the aisles to shuttle food into boxes, not unlike how they’d administer to a patient in need. The Roanoke Technical Education Center (ROTEC) students are carrying on a 23-year tradition of packing Thanksgiving baskets for an annual food drive hosted by Elks Lodge #197. While the partnership is an annual tradition, this year’s food drive took on special meaning. Nearly 40 years ago, Don and Sandy Kirtley started a small project to provide local families in need with a Thanksgiving meal. It quickly turned into a much larger food drive, helping a collective three thousand families over the past three decades. ROTEC students have helped collect food and pack baskets for the Elks since the late '90s, as an annual service project for the student organization "HOSA – Future Health Professionals." Mr. Kirtley died in 2008, and Mrs. Kirtley passed away in August of this year. Typically, the food drive averages 100 baskets; their record high was 115 baskets in one year, according to ROTEC Program Director Kathy Duncan. This year? In Sandy's memory, ROTEC and the Elks packed 152 baskets that will serve 616 individuals. The baskets are worth a total of $25,000 in groceries and donations, a record high, according to Ms. Duncan. "It’s a wonderful way to teach students the importance of giving back to their community, and as you can see, they are doing a fantastic job," Duncan said. "I could not be more proud of them."
Other ROTEC students are also involved in the efforts; for example, automotive students helped pack the cars for the delivery drivers. The baskets were delivered the weekend before Thanksgiving. Each family received about two weeks' worth of non-perishable food items as well as a turkey, butter, eggs, milk, and bread — all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal. The boxes also included other household items such as soap and shampoo. "It’s amazing. I feel great just knowing this is going to go to an amazing family," said senior Diego Balbino. "They’re going to be able to have something to eat and have something to share an amazing meal with all their family [members.]" In addition to support from other community partners, the Food Lion on Starkey Road provided "great discounts," Ms. Duncan said. The Kirtleys’ memory will live on through the annual food drive; it was renamed in Mr. Kirtley’s honor after his passing and has now been renamed the "Don and Sandy Kirtley Memorial Thanksgiving Food Drive." One small act can turn into a movement, and ROTEC will continue to carry on the torch of helping our neighbors, with generous support from the Elks Lodge. "If you see a health and medical sciences student from ROTEC — Patrick Henry and William Fleming — give them a pat on the back because they’re really working hard," Ms. Duncan said.

This press release was produced by Roanoke City Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.