Palm Beach Atlantic University donates food to elementary school

Palm Beach Atlantic University recently donated hundreds of food items to the community, according to a news release on the school's website.

PBA gave 553 nonperishable food items to needy families in West Palm Beach's Belvedere Elementary School. The items were donated through PBA's Workship office.

Donors gave their items during a number of events PBA organized and ran, including the PBA 5K. In addition to these collections, a faculty member in the School of Nursing contributed 258 cans of food, according to Catherine Wiersma, a student in the Workship office, in the news release. Faculty and staff were encouraged to bring in canned foods before Christmas break.

Wiersma has led the food collection efforts of Workship, where she serves as an AmeriCorp VISTA member. Wiersma also brings in and manages the volunteers who will work with the school's Parker Avenue Consortium, a community partnership project of PBA. Wiersma has also helped to build the relationship between PBA and Title 1 Schools.