Lisa Gifford – A Binks Forest Elementary teacher who leads with compassion and service within the community
By Lois Spatz
Tell me a little about yourself. Where you are from, how long have you been teaching, and a little about your family life?
This is my 24th year of teaching. I am married with two boys aged 23
and 13. I live here in Wellington. I was born in Jamaica and came to West Palm at the age of two, so I consider myself an almost native Floridian.
What are some of the ways you like to give back in your community?
My faith is of utmost importance in my life and I wanted to serve the church in some capacity on a regular basis. I’ve volunteered at St. Rita’s Catholic Church as a Eucharistic Minister for about seven years now.
Student Council is my “school life” volunteer organization. This is my third year serving as the sponsor for Student Council. The first year I took over, I loosely followed their ideas/projects. As the end of the year approached, an underwear drive was approaching. I just did not want to collect underwear. I knew that something more important/crucial was out there for us to do! I decided that I wanted to help the soldiers. I began inquiring about how we could actually go about doing it and the name Forgotten Soldiers was mentioned to me. That was the answer for us. I typed up a list and printed it out for the whole school, thinking I would get a few boxes of items to take myself to their warehouse. The response was unbelievable! Binks families are so very generous that we took multiple truckloads to Forgotten Soldiers. They told us it was their largest donation ever received in the five years they were opened!
What are some of the goals you feel you’ve accomplished for your organization’s?
We do a Thanksgiving Food Drive every November, Holiday Toy Drive every December, Haiti Relief Drive in January this year, Last year we did a Clothing Drive for the needy, and of course the Soldier Donation Drive every May as well. For a Student Council group of 33 children plus myself and Ann Jacob to help me this year, I think we do a fantastic job!
How does it make you feel when you realize your efforts have made a difference in someone else’s life?
My heart just sings with happiness when we help people. I constantly tell my students how fortunate they are and how important it is to help others who are less fortunate. I hope they learn from my example and pay it forward.
Writer’s Note: I met Lisa Gifford when my son Eaven was in the third grade at Binks Forest. Her warm smile and open heart are the first things you notice about her. Not only was she an amazing teacher, she never ceased to amaze me with how much she gave back to others.