For the seventh year, Northeast Technology Center’s Claremore Campus has participated in the Share the Spirit campaign, an initiative to provide complete meals for the holidays to people in need in Rogers County.
Instructor Ron Stearnes and his Home Automation class organize the event, which is a bit of a contest. Each class brings non-perishable food items to donate during the two-week long food drive. The class with the most items collected will receive a pizza party.
County commissioner Dan Delozier coordinates the campaign, and over 1,000 families will receive assistance through the program. Through the efforts of Claremore NTC, Walmart, Baker Hughes, and others, each family will receive either a turkey or a ham, as well as all the side items necessary to enjoy a complete Christmas meal.
“I enjoy doing it,” Ron Stearnes. “I was shocked at how many people need help in Rogers County.”
Stearnes added that his students enjoy the idea of helping others this time of year as well.
“It was really encouraging to know that we’re helping people,” said Skyla Sanford, a Claremore senior.
Clint Davidson, a senior from Verdigris, added, “It really made me think about things because I went into my pantry at home, and I saw all this food that we had and we weren’t eating. We had so much.”
Perhaps Landin Olandese, an Inola senior, summed it up best as he remarked, “The will to win… the will to give. That’s what makes it fun.”
In total, the Claremore campus gathered a little over 500 canned, boxed or bagged food items and the Home Automation class reclaimed the crown—and pizza party—from the Computer Aided Manufacturing class, which won last year.
About Northeast Technology Center
Northeast Technology Center’s campuses are located in Afton, Kansas, Pryor and Claremore. Through its full-time daytime classes, short-term evening classes, and its business and industry services and training, NTC serves well over 18,000 patrons per year. For more information on any of the classes or training programs available, visit NTC’s website at www.netech.edu or call (918) 825-7040.
