Thanks for Giving has been an annual event of The Center for Family Resources for 37 years, providing hundreds of children and their families food for the week of Thanksgiving break. Family food boxes also include items for a Thanksgiving meal at home. The annual event is not possible without support from schools and businesses within Cobb County. This year’s Thanks for Giving Co-Chairs Alice Dondelinger, Pinnacle Financial, Lisa Lawrence, LGE Community Credit Union and former co-chair Joy Doss, The Doss Firm, wanted to make it extra special for schools to participate this year and arranged for a chance to win a visit from Atlanta Braves mascot, “Blooper”. The school that collected the most items would be the lucky winner.
Osborne High School’s FBLA program, led by Michael Devault, along with the school’s NJROTC program rallied together in November to host a school-wide food drive to help the Center for Family Resources during their Thanks for Giving Program. The drive quickly became a competition, driving up donations every day. With over 36 Cobb County and City of Marietta Schools hosting food drives for Thanks for Giving this year, Osborne High School collected nearly 4,000 food items. They outraised every other school by more than 1,000 items. The food collected by Osborne High School fed approximately 100 families. That’s more than 400 full stomachs.
With close to 2,000 school-age children in Cobb County experiencing homelessness, the CFR was thrilled to be able to express the importance of the donations to the Osborne students and how they directly impacted the lives of other students and families in the district. “It’s incredible to see this community support what we do for children and families, and in support of each other. We are always grateful for the partnership and generosity we see year after year. We can’t wait to see who challenges Osborne for the title next year,” said Melanie Kagan, CEO of the Center for Family Resources
Additional prize winners for this year’s Thanks for Giving program went to Clarkdale Elementary, Garrett Middle School and Vaughn Elementary, each receiving Domino’s Pizza gift cards generously donated by Domino’s Pizza corporate office.
The Center for Family Resources is grateful to all the participating businesses and schools that helped make this year’s Thanks for Giving a success. The CFR successfully collected over 62,000 lbs of food and served over 800 families in the community.
Learn more in the MDJ Article: Osborne High School Wins Center for Family Resources Thanks for Giving Competition