{"id":54697,"date":"2025-12-01T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/?p=54697"},"modified":"2025-12-02T17:48:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T23:48:43","slug":"blessing-bags-given-to-students-spending-thanksgiving-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/blessing-bags-given-to-students-spending-thanksgiving-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Blessing Bags\u2019 Given to Students Spending Thanksgiving on Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State Texans spending the Thanksgiving break on campus were treated to \u201cblessing bags\u201d of food and supplies last week by members of the Gamma Zeta Texas Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International as part of a community initiative to support those in need during the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Members of the Gamma Zeta Texas Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International and Tarleton State alumni including from left, Marilyn Pack, Program\/Projects Chairman; Dr. Ann Calahan; Dr. Sherri Benn, Tarleton State Vice President for Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives; Mindy Petross, President; and Kimberlea Adams, Treasurer, delivered \u201cblessing bags” of food and supplies to support students in need during the holidays.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Sherri Benn, Tarleton State Vice President for Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives, said the goody bags were meant to bring comfort, care and a sense of community to those who remained on campus during the break \u2014 including students who may not have a traditional family home to return to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are deeply grateful to Tarleton State retiree Dr. Ann Calahan and the Gamma Zeta Texas Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma International for their generosity and heartfelt support of our students,\u201d said Dr. Benn. \u201cThis thoughtful gesture affirms that they are valued members of our Texan family, and we appreciate the educators\u2019 continued dedication to our students\u2019 well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG) is an international professional honor society for women educators that promotes their professional and personal growth and excellence in education. Dr. Calahan, a retired professor and former department head for Curriculum and Instruction at Tarleton State, said the local Gamma Zeta chapter, established in 1941 with area women educators from Erath County and surrounding areas, selects projects each year to serve the surrounding community. Currently they supply \u201cTreats for Treehouse,\u201d an after school program operated by First United Methodist Church for elementary-age children of working parents, as well partner with UNICEF and DKG International to support the GIRLS Fund (Girls Initiative to Revitalize Learning and Success). In addition, Gamma Zeta selects two graduating education students each year for scholarships. This year they also created the \u201cblessing bags.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a retired professor and former student, I knew there would be a need for Tarleton State students,\u201d Dr. Calahan said. \u201cThese \u2018blessing bags\u2019 are another way for us to support education in our community while helping students at Tarleton State and at the high school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional resources are available to help students with food assistance, academic materials, childcare, counseling, financial wellness, housing and transportation resources through the Student Resources and Basic Needs department. To request assistance or make a donation to aid students in need, contact Isabel Talamantes at 254-968-9397 or italamantes@tarleton.edu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For community relations or partnership opportunities, the Civic and Community Connections department helps foster relationships across the region to meet student needs. Contact Dr. Dana Fitzpatrick at 254-968-0506 or dfitzpatrick@tarleton.edu for more information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 Tarleton State Texans spending the Thanksgiving break on campus were treated to \u201cblessing bags\u201d of food and supplies last week by members of the Gamma Zeta Texas …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":473,"featured_media":54698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":425,"footnotes":""},"categories":[425,421],"tags":[442,462,456],"class_list":["post-54697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-featuredstories","tag-community-events","tag-lozano-long-division-of-global-community-and-first-gen-initiatives","tag-stephenville"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"ehellmund@tarleton.edu","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/ehellmundtarleton-edu\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2025\/11\/Goodie-Bags.jpg-300x200.jpeg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Campus & Community<\/a>","Featured Stories<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Campus & Community<\/span>","Featured Stories<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Community Events<\/a>","Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives<\/a>","Stephenville<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Community Events<\/span>","Lozano Long Division of Global, Community and First-gen Initiatives<\/span>","Stephenville<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 months ago","modified":"Updated 4 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 1, 2025","modified":"Updated on December 2, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 1, 2025 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on December 2, 2025 5:48 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/473"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54697"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54716,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54697\/revisions\/54716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}