Education - Bristol Township
Bristol Township Environmental Advisory Committee Introduces New Student Focused Award
The Bristol Township Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC), working with staff liaison and Parks & Recreation Director Jessia Ireland, announced the creation of the Bristol Township Student Environmental Excellence Award.
This award will recognize high school and college students from Bristol Township who display extraordinary commitment to environmental conservation and stewardship.
The award will be open on a rolling basis to students in good academic standing. The requirements and application for the award can be found by clicking the link Student Environmental Excellence Award Application or on the EAC’s page or the Bristol Township website.
“Our hope for this program is to encourage passion for the environment, and to help the students that are granted this award further their professional development,” says EAC Chairman Kody Brittingham.
Award winners will be issued a certificate from the Township, as well as a digital badge for their social media profiles. Their work will also be shared online on the EAC social media platforms.
The EAC recently announced a social media engagement effort “Species Spotlight” aimed at raising environmental awareness among a younger audience. That series, in began running on the Lower Bucks Source Meta page on Thursday and will continue to do so weekly at 12:30 pm, in coordination with EAC officials.
Credit: Lower Bucks Source Meta Page
The Bristol Township Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) is a dedicated group of community members focused on promoting environmental stewardship, conservation, and sustainability within the township. The committee serves as an advisory body to the local government, providing insights and recommendations on environmental policies, leading green initiatives, and eco-friendly practices that help protect and preserve natural resources.
Cops, Courts & Fire -Bristol Township
Bristol Twp. School District Clothing Drive Does More Than Provide Attire, It Provides Stability for Students in Need
It is one thing to see a teenage student on their way to school wearing a “hoodie” on a cold winter day.
It is an entirely different image to see a child heading to school on that same cold winter day, not wearing a winter jacket. This is the very image Bristol Township School District and Police Department officials recently joined forces to fight with a significant financial contribution from philanthropist Gene Epstein
The school district said recently it has about 130 students experiencing serious stable housing challenges.
Dr. Meredith Leach School District Social Worker said, holding the drive and providing the needed clothing for students experiencing a period of housing displacement can and does offer not only clothing, but a sense of stability students need to thrive in class.
It’s no secret, Leach said, that a sense of stability leads to achievement. By providing basic needs, such as clothing, they (school district and police department) are trying to put their students in the best possible position to succeed and thrive, despite the housing challenges their families are facing.
Leach said families experiencing housing challenges and alike usually self-identify to the school district and fellow counselors and social workers system wide to coordinate resource support.
“The school district also offers school supplies, hygiene items and if we don’t have it in stock at our offices we order it online.”
“Sometimes something so minor to an outsider, like organizers for clothing drawers, for a student means the world because it gives them a sense of control over some of the life circumstances they’re experiencing.”
“We’re lucky enough to live in a county and state where services for students experiencing this kind of life challenge there are an array of services and resources available,” Leach said.
So lucky that neighboring businesses, such as Five Below in Tullytown, donated to the cause once the clothing drive was announced.
Credit: Joanne Ames – Lower Bucks Source
The Clothing Drive
Leach said the clothing drive idea came to fruition once she and her staff reviewed the numbers and realized about 130 students were in need.
In the human services field (i.e. social work) a measure of your professional success and community connection is always having that one yet-to-be used resource in your back pocket that social workers place on the table when faced with a potentially troubling situation, experts agree.
I saw a social media post from Neshaminy School District that said “we are filling our closets.”
Leach pulled out her “Ace Card” in the form of the Bristol Twp. Police Dept. Officer John Dobbs who in turn reached out to Epstein because they worked well together in the past.
The Epsteins donated to the cause as well as Walmart making a $500 contribution to the effort, Sgt. Jason Mancuso said.
We basically filled everything the school district needed for those 125 to 130 students, Mancuso said.
The Bristol Township Police Union (PBA) contributed a number of gift cards to the effort as well.
Leach in a moment of levity said of the clothing drive spending spree paid for by Epstein, “when do you ever get carte blanche to buy what you want as a social worker? Never!” She admitted to being a bit timid at first when selecting clothing items to purchase.
“Mancuso and Dobbs changed that for me. They grabbed boxes where I was grabbing packets,” she said, in joyous laughter.
The spacious school district office where the clothes are kept and distributed to school district social workers is filled with supplies for students now, thanks to Epstein giving Mancuso his credit card allowing Leach to spend thousands on students in need.
How could I not do it and live in good conscience, Epstein said.
“Those students were in immediate need,” he said “and it would take way too much time to set up a fundraising drive. Here’s my credit card and I don’t care what you spend. Get the kids what they need.”
Credit: Joanne Ames – Lower Bucks Source
“Whatever our students need we’re going to do everything we can to help them. We don’t want any of our students walking around with needs we can help them meet. I like to think we can help our students, and their families to be build a scaffold that they in turn can build upon.”
The response to the need by the Bristol Twp Police, the PBA and the Epsteins was amazing, Leach said.
The student-focused clothing drive officially launched February 2 and remains ongoing until the need no longer exists.
Any clean clothes, even if previously worn, can be dropped off at the Bristol Twp Police records department hallway or at the Bristol Township School Admin Building on Green Lane.
Opus Outreach Foundation joined the clothing drive shortly after it was announced. Items can be dropped off at Opus Elite Real Estate 119 Trenton Road, Fairless Hills. If you want to arrange a clothing drive donation you can call Christy Becker at 267 338-7518.
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