Holiday season at Rochelle a time for giving, receiving

At Rochelle Middle School this holiday season, it’s a time for both giving and receiving.

The giving part will benefit Mary’s Kitchen and the local homeless shelter, the result of a school-wide campaign that collected a massive quantity of non-perishable food items and other essentials.

And, as if to affirm that good deeds are rewarded, the school has received a donation of winter coats from Horseware, the Kinston producer of horse rugs and equestrian apparel, that will be distributed to Rochelle students based on need.

The food drive resulted in the donation of more than 24,000 items, according to Tisha Dixon, whose leadership classes spurred the campaign. “We had a competition with sixth, seventh and eighth grades to see who could bring the most in,” she said.

The donations came from students, staff and the community.

Last spring, Dixon’s students donated backpacks filled with hygiene items and other necessities to Kinston’s homeless, whom they reached through Mary’s Kitchen, a soup kitchen sponsored by St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Kinston. The shelter is sponsored by Friends of the Homeless Shelter.

The Christmas project is another chapter in the school’s student outreach program, according to Rochelle Principal Terry Wooten.

“This is just a continuation of last year,” Wooten said. “We partnered with those two organizations last year and we’re continuing to show our support for the community and for those who are in need.”

The Horseware donation of 104 winter coats, as timely as it was unsolicited, set in motion a process for determining which students needed the coats the worst.

“We sent out a needs assessment to the teachers to see which students were in need of new coats,” school counselor Sheena Johnson said. “That’s how we’re going to distribute them.”