FTCC delivered a donation of essential items to Luther “Nick” Jeralds Middle School on Sept. 30, 2024. Pictured, left to right, are Communities in Schools of Cumberland County Executive Director Rose Ferguson, FTCC VP for Strategic Initiatives Dr. Tiffany Watts, FTCC Grants Assistant Lacoma Jones, Luther “Nick” Jeralds Assistant Principal Dr. Stephanie Kelly, Luther “Nick” Jeralds Principal Christin Etchison, FTCC Director of Strategic Community Initiatives Marvin Price, FTCC Special Projects Assistant Heather Spexarth, FTCC Success Coach for Strategic Initiatives Renata Simmons, and Jimmy Hendley with Cumberland County Schools Student Support Services. [Photo by Brad Losh]
Fayetteville Technical Community College made a special delivery Monday to Luther “Nick” Jeralds Middle School, arriving with donations of school supplies, food, hygiene items, and gift cards.
FTCC’s Monday delivery was a product of the Adopt-A-School partnership through the Cumberland County Educational Attainment Collaborative, an alliance of community leaders committed to advancing post-secondary educational attainment through evidence-based strategies.
FTCC proudly leads the CCEAC and is joined by Cumberland County Schools, Communities in Schools of Cumberland County, Mid-Carolina Regional Council of Government, NC Works, Methodist University, and Fayetteville State University. The Collaborative is funded by Cumberland Community Foundation.
The Collaborative focuses on addressing key barriers to educational progress by supporting local schools, ensuring students’ basic needs are met, assisting families with FAFSA completion, and raising community awareness about post-secondary educational opportunities and workforce development programs.
Luther “Nick” Jeralds Middle School has a student enrollment of about 600 students in grades 6-8. FTCC Chief of Staff/Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Dr. Tiffany Watts said the CCEAC recently adopted the middle school through the Adopt-A-School program.
“Our collaboration aims to establish a Student Essentials Pantry and also to expand the existing Clothes Closet to better serve students’ essential needs,” Watts said.
In addition to food, hygiene products and school supplies, the Collaborative also donated FTCC- and FSU-branded items, such as water bottles, T-shirts, sunglasses, pens, pencils, binders, lanyards, drawstring bags, and motivational posters.
The donation totaled approximately $8,000, including $2,500 in Food Lion gift cards to sustain the food pantry and $2,500 in Walmart gift cards to support teachers in purchasing resources for their students and classrooms.
