Hometown Sports Hero Gives Back
DeSoto, TX– DeSoto Independent School District is proud to announce the donation of 16,000 bottles of water for its student meal program by Unified World Champion boxer, Errol Spence Jr., one of DeSoto’s hometown sports heroes.
Spence made the donation at the main hub for the DeSoto ISD Child Nutrition Services along with Equinox Harvest Birch Water business partners Derrick James, the 2017 Ring Magazine Boxing Trainer of the Year & Dallas/Fort Worth native Jordan Dresel, co-owner of Equinox Harvest Birch Water.
“This is my hometown. This is where I grew up and I live here now. DeSoto has seen me grow up since I was a little kid. They have always supported me since day one and I want to help them and be there for them for this cause,” said Spence in a media interview during the announcement.
DeSoto ISD truly appreciates the donation. Their meal program surpasses the distribution of more than 60,000 meals to community children from the district’s seven meals sites which have been open since March 16.
DeSoto ISD Supporting Families During COVID-19
Valencia Jefferson, DeSoto ISD’s Chartwells Resident Manager, is glad to see the support of Spence and the community to help children and families of DeSoto navigate the Covid-19 public health crisis.
“We are committed to ensuring that our kids maintain a healthy lifestyle during the global pandemic. Our weekly meal distribution strives to assist families in maintaining overall wellness,” said Jefferson. “The health and wellness of our community is very important, and the Birch Water donation truly reinforces this initiative and shows our community coming together during a tough time to do some good for the citizens.”
DeSoto ISD is providing daily breakfast and lunch meals for Monday through Sunday to families through a two-day per week distribution plan which will now incorporate the Equinox water donated by Spence and James. The district plans to continue this service through this crisis period.
DeSoto ISD Spirit #TogetherWeWill
For DeSoto ISD, this donation is another example of the spirit and collaboration of the DeSoto community, a complement and personification of the district mantra, TogetherWeWill adopted at the start of the school year in August 2019.
“When the school year began, we adopted #TogetherWeWill as the tagline for our journey this school year and I can say that “TogetherWeWill” has never meant as much to me as it does right now. As a district we are all working together to ensure that our students and their families are safe and that their basic needs were met. We have seen all members of our staff, and the child nutrition workers go above and beyond each day to serve families,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. D’Andre J. Weaver. “Then, to see our community’s hometown heroes, like Mr. Spence standing up to support our families is a wonderful sight and we are extremely grateful for his generosity and continued support of DeSoto and DeSoto ISD.”
Spence, who often sees and hears fans standing in his corner as he faces his opponents in boxing rings around the world, is letting DeSoto residents know that he is fighting alongside them to win against the Covid-19 public health crisis.
In addition, Spence and James also partnered with the Facemask Donation project to donate 50 protective masks to help protect our Desoto ISD staff working on the front lines to serve students.
