To make a difference in the lives of their students, special education paraprofessional, Emily Drevlow, and special education elementary teacher, Amanda Reinarts, made a $500.00 donation to the River Trail Learning Center. The gift to the school started as an idea the two women had planted, two summers ago.
"So we started growing organic vegetables in our backyards," Reinarts said.
Over the past two seasons, they sold their veggies and other homemade goodies at the Coon Rapids Farmers Market, where they earmarked 10% of their sales toward the goal.
"Professional development here at Anoka-Hennepin encouraged us to be the change that we want to see in the world," Reinarts said.
They even got their students involved with the project. "We actually had some student volunteers help us with the market," Reinarts said.
The experience empowered the students on the idea of raising money for a good cause. The Bison Boosters Club will use half of the donation to fund the school's clothing closet and food pantry, according to Julie Beaufeaux, who is the school social worker.
"The donation helps a lot because it gives us a little bit of the funding flexibility to be able to purchase some culturally specific food items that we might not normally get donated," Beaufeaux said.