WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — They say the final act of love is grief, but for one school in Houston County, they've turned their grief into good.
Principal Andy Payne said he wanted to teach his students the value of community support and giving back to people when he came to the school 11 years ago.
"Somebody in the building was like 'hey-- there's a cancer center literally across the street from our school-- if we're going to help somebody why not help out our community?'" Payne said.
Since 2016, David Perdue Elementary's held a donation drive gathering bottles of supplemental drinks for patients.
The school sits right across from the Cancer Care Center at Houston Health Park.
Students at the school may have little hands, but they have big hearts.
On the last day of the donation drive, Ariana Bradford brought in almost 300 bottles.
She said she asked her parents, their coworkers, and even out-of-state relatives and friends to mail her donations.
Ariana says her big sister, who's in sixth grade now, donated hundreds of boxes when she was a student at Perdue Elementary.
James' big sister, Mckenzie, was also a Bulldog at Perdue Elementary.
"If people don't want to eat, they can just drink it," James Brooks III said.
James' sister was a gymnast and he remembers "her doing flips, she was nice and always stuck up" for him.
Mckenzie was diagnosed with bone cancer while she was still in elementary school. She died in 2019; James was in preschool.
James donated about 250 bottles of supplemental drinks.
Aiden Rozier who was also diagnosed with bone cancer, died in 2021.
He played football, and his mom called him "a clown."
"He wanted everyone to be happy," she said.
Since the pair passed away, the school's dedicated their annual donation drive to them in their honor.
Nurse Navigator Racara Mastervick joined the Cancer Care Center team in January.
"We were out shortly after I came," Mastervick said. "It was like, March, when we were done with our supply."
Patient Navigator Sheena Manson joined the team less than a month ago.
"I believe they came around two weeks ago, and I'm out of my supply already, and [the delivery man] just came," Manson said.
Both Mastervick and Manson are new to their roles at the cancer center, but they've been working with patients for most of their careers.
They know how vital these donations are.
"We knew that this was an integral donation and appreciation, and was an enormous welcome event in the life of our year-to-year patients, and those that come through and what their needs are," Mastervick said.
Payne says the power of community makes an impact.
"People make a difference in this world, and we're so grateful to have a community that wants to give back," Payne said.
At the end of the donation drive, the Bulldogs gathered 2,600 bottles of supplemental drinks this year. Since 2016, they've donated 12,300 bottles to patients at the Cancer Care Center.
Congratulations to 13WMAZ's first School of the Week for the 2024-2025 school year: David Perdue Elementary!
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