Education

Tons of turkeys, marching bands and motorcycles at school food drive

By Suzanne Perez Tobias

Wichita public school students and employees donated thousands of turkeys and other food items Friday morning as part of the district’s annual turkey drive for United Methodist Open Door.

Volunteers staffed a new drop-off site – the WaterWalk, 515 S. Main – from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Friday. Gil Alvarez, assistant superintendent of secondary schools, got into the spirit by donning a turkey costume.

Last year, the district collected 867 turkeys, 22,892 side items and $12,727.78. Totals for this year’s drive will be reported later Friday.

Schools host friendly competitions to see who can collect the most. They also came up with creative and festive ways to present their donations.

Students from Southeast High School, home of the Golden Buffaloes, broke into a rousing rendition of the Buffalo Call:

Others sang, danced and cheered.

A parade of motorcycles heralded Robinson Middle School’s donation:

And throughout the morning, the school district’s Twitter page noted schools’ efforts to collect food and raise money for needy families.

This is the 12th year the Wichita district has participated in the turkey drive.

Suzanne Perez Tobias: 316-268-6567, @suzannetobias

This story was originally published November 17, 2017 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Tons of turkeys, marching bands and motorcycles at school food drive."

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