(FORT BEND) –

With the new school year upon us, the Student Government Association (SGA) at Texas State Technical College in Fort Bend County wanted to help students and their families that struggle to purchase school supplies for the year.

All thanks to the organization’s hard work and help from college students and employees, TSTC was able to donate a boxload of supplies to Lunches of Love in Rosenberg.

Lunches of Love is a non-profit organization that is committed to helping end childhood hunger in Fort Bend County by providing free nutritious sack lunches during extended holidays and weekends. They provide at least 3,500 lunches a day.

“Many of our families don’t have the means to purchase food to eat on a regular basis – much less school supplies,” said Adriane Gray, Lunch of Love creator and director. “These supplies will help our kiddos have confidence and hold their head high when walking into school with the tools needed to have a great year.”

Pictured left to right are SGA officers and Cyber Security Technology students Parker Sorrels and Scott Easter delivering the school supply donations to Lunches of Love in Rosenberg.

Grey added that the school supplies are a true blessing for her Lunches of Love kids and that she is very thankful to TSTC for the donation.

To make this donation possible, SGA President Rogelio Garcia, Vice President Parker Sorrel and Treasurer Scott Easter, recently hosted a Gaming Tournament with 100 percent of the proceeds going toward the purchase of school supplies.

“Not only was this a great way for our students to relax and have fun before final exams, but it allowed everyone on campus to get involved and give back,” said Garcia.

Also, between June and August, collection boxes were set up throughout campus with students, faculty, staff and administration making donations.

“We wanted to do something meaningful that would benefit our community,” said Garcia. “We hope that this will alleviate the stress of back-to-school shopping and that it’s a boost for students to help them succeed. They are our future after all.”

TSTC Director of Admissions and SGA Advisor Georgeann Calzada said she is proud of the SGA officers for coordinating donation drives and the event to collect monetary donations and supplies such as notebooks, paper, pens and pencils, folders and colors.

“Our local communities are very important to us so we try to give back in any way we can,” she said. “At the start of a new school year we see how students struggle  to get the bare necessities so we wanted to extend our donations to our local community.”

Calzada added that civic engagement is an important lesson to teach students during this transitional phase into their careers.

“The communities they’ll be working and living in need them to be involved. It builds good character and I hope that they feel the sense of joy I feel when I see them giving back to the community that gives us so much on a daily basis.”

For information on SGA or the programs offered at TSTC in Fort Bend County, visit tstc.edu.