Church gives turkey vouchers to Driscoll Middle

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — More than a 100 families from Driscoll Middle School will receive a free turkey dinner this Thanksgiving.
That is thanks to community relationships like Church Unlimited Westside who is partnered with the school with hopes of making the holidays a little less stressful for low income families.
As a Title I campus, Driscoll Middle School has a high population of low socio-economic families that attend their school.
"We know there are so many people in our community who are in need and we just feel like it's a responsibility of ours -- a vision of ours -- to be able to serve those needs in our community," Campus Pastor Matthew Lemke of Church Unlimited Westside said.
It's the first year Church Unlimited Westside has given out turkey vouchers to families.
But, the church is no stranger to Driscoll Middle School because of their "Communities in Schools" partnership.
Ryan Basaldu, the site coordinator for Driscoll's Communities in Schools, said the church has helped a couple times before.
"One way they did it was supporting us at the beginning of the school year by providing 100 backpacks filled with school supplies," Basaldu said. "They have also provided us with mentorship and bringing people in to speak with our students."
Driscoll Middle School Assistant Principal Federico Saqui said the impact is evident.
"It's helping our kids have better holidays and have school materials and supplies and be ready for school," Saqui said.
To pay for the turkeys the church held a fundraiser.
"The T-shirts were $30 and they sold 700 T-shirts," Basaldu said.
In addition to the 100 turkey vouchers, Driscoll will also be receiving 40 turkeys to give away from two other partnerships.