By Matt Wiley
The holidays are a time for selflessness and giving, and that’s just what the New Tampa branch of the financial services giant Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) did for a local school in need in December.
On Dec. 18, for the ninth consecutive year, representatives from DTCC (located off Highwoods Preserve Pkwy., north of I-75) made a stop at Mort Elementary, located just southwest of New Tampa on E. Bearss Ave., to make a generous donation of gifts to the school’s students, many of whom come from less fortunate families in the surrounding “USF Area” community.
“We adopted Mort Elementary nine years ago and the students’ smiling faces still bring us joy every time we drop off supplies or toys from our latest drive,” said Eric Miller, managing director and head of DTCC Tampa. “Now and into the future, DTCC is committed to giving back and helping our community prosper.”
In total, DTCC donated more than 200 gifts to the school, in hopes that no child of the nearly 850 in attendance would go through the holidays without something to unwrap. Gifts included a variety of toys for boys and girls in every age group from pre-kindergarten all the way up to fifth grade. DTCC also donates school supplies to Mort at the beginning of the year.
“DTCC has been committed to supporting Mort through volunteerism and much-needed holiday and back-to-school supply donations,” Miller said. “After all, these students will someday become part of the workforce from which we draw, and it’s the right thing to do. The Tampa community has supported DTCC and we feel strongly about giving back to a network that has bolstered DTCC’s success story here.”
Mort Elementary social worker Melissa Enzor said that watching each student walk out of the building on the last day before Christmas vacation each holding a gift was overwhelming.
“It’s a wonderful thing to see the students each walk out with a gift that last day,” she explained. “You really could see and feel their excitement.”
This was the first year that each child was sent home with a gift, Enzor said. In previous years, donated toys would be put into a “toy room,” from which Mort parents would choose a gift for their child.
Enzor explained that Mort has a very low socio-economic status and that most students walk home with their parents or family members.
For more info about Mort Elementary (1806 E. Bearss Ave.), including donation opportunities, please call 975-7373 or visit Mort.SDHC.k12.fl.us.
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