VALDOSTA – Two schools will benefit from monetary donations thanks to the Pinevale Alumni Association and Walmart.

The Pinevale Alumni Association traveled last week with Casey Sanks and Carla Harwell of Walmart to Pinevale Elementary School and Maceo Horne Learning Center to hand deliver checks to recipients.

At Pinevale, Dr. Ann Finney-Williams, assistant principal, and Tiffany Johnson-Lewis, reading intervention specialist, were handed a check for $1,000. Finney-Williams said her portion of the check will be used for the STEM program and the school’s STEM Night. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

“There are hundreds of thousands of STEM jobs not filled in Georgia,” Finney-Williams said. “STEM is one of the fastest growing fields.”

Johnson-Lewis, who also serves as the coordinator for Hungry at Home, will use her portion of the money to strengthen the program. Hungry at Home provides bags of food for children to have during the weekend to ensue they are well-fed when they are not at school.

The group then traveled down the road to Maceo Horne and presented a $1,000 check to Virginia Crowell, assistant principal. The money will be used for classroom supplies, text and resource book and the positive behavior inventive program.

“It takes a village to raise our children,” Crowell said.

Donations are just a small part of what the Pinevale Alumni Association does. Its next venture will be the adult literacy classes at Pinevale Elementary. The new program will allow parents of students at the school to take adult literacy classes in a newly developed computer lab. It is expected to be up and running soon, members said.

Desiree Carver is a reporter at the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be reached at (229) 244-3400 ext. 1215.