Papillion La Vista Community Schools and Prairie Queen Elementary School raised $5,471.88 for the Tri-City Food pantry in January. This was the 4th year the school participated in the fundraiser.

Of the donation $3,325.88 was fundraised at Prairie Queen Elementary through a "spare change drive" where students brought change to school and competed against other classrooms to raise the most money.

Kindergarten teacher Anne-Marie Hunter won the classroom challenge with her students raising $468, kindergarten teacher Kelli Houdesheldt raised $293, and first grade teacher Dawn Markus received the third place spot with her class raising $225. An anonymous donor donated Amazon gift cards to the winning classrooms. 

$2,150 of the donation was raised by a PLCS district-wide Jeans Day. 

The Tri-City Food Pantry serves families in La Vista, Papillion and Ralston struggling with food insecurities.  Many of the Pantry’s clients get referrals from PLCS counselors and social workers.