Port Richey committee approves Sponsor‑a‑Teacher holiday drive to present to council

The committee approved a plan to run a holiday "Sponsor a Teacher" drive for Port Richey teachers and voted to present the materials to the city council for review.

Under the plan, teachers who serve Port Richey City residents may submit a brief wish list (teacher name, school and grade/subject) by an agreed deadline. Donations — including school supplies and single-item gifts such as boxes of tissues, crayons, pens and hand sanitizer — will be dropped off at City Hall in a designated collection box. Committee members discussed spans for timing, teacher verification using city address records, and the possibility of asking local businesses to sponsor individual teachers or provide gift cards. The committee agreed that any business-provided gift card arrangements should be facilitated on the business’s own terms (business to recipient), not as pooled cash handled by the committee.

Committee members debated deadlines and settled on a time-limited window for teacher submissions and a subsequent donation period; the committee agreed to present a final flyer and date range to council (committee recommended a November window for wish-list submission and a December collection window, with gifts distributed at the Jan. 8 CAC meeting).

A motion to present the Sponsor‑a‑Teacher flyer and the teachers' wish-list flyer to council (with the corrections agreed in committee) was seconded and approved by voice vote. Staff and volunteers will follow up to coordinate outreach to small businesses, post collection details online, and prepare a verification process to confirm teacher residency or eligibility before gifts are distributed.