Students from South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL Houston) recently donated over $35,000 to ABC13’s 40th Annual “Share Your Holidays” Food Drive, benefiting the Houston Food Bank — more than doubling the school’s 2019 donation to the nonprofit.
This gift equates to approximately 105,000 meals for hungry Houstonians.
While the law school has earned the honor of “largest academic donor” to this holiday food drive for the past nine years, in 2020 — despite the economic challenges of the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic — STCL Houston was the only academic donor to this longstanding fundraiser.
The law school’s Student Bar Association (SBA) Vice President Javier Gonzalez presented an oversized check to ABC13 anchor Samica Knight at the Houston Food Bank Friday morning.
“Houston’s ‘Share Your Holidays’ Food Drive is important to South Texas College of Law Houston because we’re all about giving back to the community,” said Gonzalez. “As future lawyers, it’s our job to help people every day, and that culture begins on students’ first day of law school.”
STCL Houston has partnered with ABC13 on its holiday food drive for more than 20 years. Last year, the law school’s SBA food drive raised nearly $18,000 to put food on the tables of hungry residents of Houston.
“The support from South Texas College of Law Houston has never been more important than it is now. The need for food assistance has significantly increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Houston Food Bank CEO Brian Greene. “We are extremely thankful for the longstanding partnership from the staff and students who continue to brighten the holidays for those in need by participating in ABC13 Share Your Holidays. Thank you.”
The school’s food drive launched Nov. 1 and concluded this week, bringing in more than $6,000 following Gonzalez’s check presentation Friday.
While much of the student body participated in the campus-wide drive, South Texas staff and faculty also played a large role in encouraging donations for hungry Houston-area families. Many professors offered first-year students incentives for their contributions, including extra study sessions for upcoming exams, in addition to matching their students’ financial donations to the drive.
This year, the school welcomed both food and financial donations for the drive, but Gonzalez — in addition to SBA President Lauryn Burt and Treasurer Krystal Joseph — encouraged the student body to focus their efforts on monetary contributions, since the Houston Food Bank can leverage its vendor relationships to make $1 stretch into three meals.
“At STCL Houston, we give back through our onsite Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics and this annual holiday food drive,” said Gonzalez. “We’ve participated in this drive for decades now and, with COVID-19 having such a big impact in our community, we knew we had to keep it going and help as much as we could.”
To view Gonzalez’s live check presentation at the Houston Food Bank, click here.
