‘Tis the season of giving! Atlanta Public Schools’ partner Mercedes- Benz USA (MBUSA) recently donated 1,200 gift packages and 400 turkeys and hams to families and students at Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy and Lenora P. Miles Elementary School.
The luxury brand helped APS students and their families gear up for the second half of the school year and kick off the holiday break by hosting a Winterfest celebration at Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy and Lenora P. Miles Elementary School. MBUSA volunteers and school faculty distributed 1,200 gift packages and 400 turkeys and hams to students and families during the drive-through event. The holiday gift packages included puzzles, colored pencils, notebooks, coloring books, book lights, an age-appropriate book, and a special Mercedes-Benz surprise.
“Through our long-term partnership with Atlanta Public Schools, we forged strong and rewarding relationships with the students and faculty at Michael R. Hollis Innovation Academy and Lenora P. Miles Elementary School – two schools that we are proud to support this holiday season and throughout the year,” said Drew Slaven, vice president of marketing with MBUSA. “As a company, we are focused on empowering the next generation of leaders, and that begins by making sure they have the necessary resources to be successful. We hope our Winterfest drive-through event will serve as a source of joy for both children and parents alike during a challenging holiday season for many families in our community.”
The event also provided the opportunity for socially distant interactions and photos with Atlanta United FC soccer star and Mercedes-Benz Ambassador Josef Martínez. In addition, the students were treated to a first look at a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and a Mercedes-AMG GT C wearing decorative ugly holiday sweater designs.
“Miles Elementary is forever grateful to Mercedes-Benz USA for sponsoring the Winterfest celebration for our families and community during this very special holiday season,” said Thalise Perry, principal of Lenora P. Miles Elementary School.
The Winterfest event is part of MBUSA’s Curbside Caring initiative, an extension of its Greatness Lives Here program, which launched in April in response to COVID-19.
Through this initiative, MBUSA has prepared approximately 59,000 meals for families and children in need on Atlanta’s Westside, enabling thousands more to be delivered through the donation of a fleet of Sprinter vans to organizations that help feed Atlanta’s most vulnerable residents.
MBUSA has also provided emergency kits to the Salvation Army, catered lunches for Sandy Springs firefighters and police officers, and provided donations to select organizations that help support families and children experiencing job loss, housing displacement, remote learning, and education challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Note: This blog post was sourced from a joint press release between Atlanta Public Schools and Mercedes- Benz USA.
On Wednesday, Vision to Learn’s Damian Carroll, Manager of External Relations, and Anne Morris Reid, Chief Strategy Officer, joined Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen and Atlanta Board of Education District 6 Representative Eshe P. Collins, along with Atlanta Hawks Foundation Executive Director David Lee and Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins, a member of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Hall of Fame, in handing out glasses to students at Fickett. The 62 pairs they distributed now makes the grand total 111 students at Fickett who now have new eye glasses thanks to the Vision to Learn/Hawks Foundation/APS partnership.
“We want to help foster a love of reading in our students, so that they will want to read more,” Dr. Woolfolk said. “The more they read, the more their comprehension and proficiency will increase. We’re so grateful to Georgia-Pacific for their support in helping us reach our goals.”
