Employees who work at Lake County Schools’ district offices, including the main office in Tavares, donated bikes, dolls, drones, clothing and many more items that will be distributed to local children through the Salvation Army of Lake and Sumter Counties for the holidays.
While teachers, principals and other employees at individual schools often donate holiday items to students in need on their campuses, this effort gave employees outside of the schools an opportunity to give to Lake County children as well.
The donations were collected as part of the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree project. Usually, the Salvation Army hangs paper angel ornaments on a tree and donors choose one. Each ornament includes a child’s first name, age, clothing sizes and a few fun items from their wish list. Based on that information, donors select gift items that are presented to the children anonymously.
This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the angel tree was shared virtually.
Some donations came from district departments including Risk Management, Human Resources and Procurement. Others came from individual employees, including superintendent Diane Kornegay.
“The employees in this district, whether they work directly with students or not, truly care about the children we serve,” Kornegay said. “It was heartwarming to watch the excitement grow as more and more gifts came in. We experienced as much joy from giving as we hope the children will get from receiving.”
