Mt. Wade Baptist Church Men’s Senior Mission presented a donation of $1,300 to Mamie Martin Elementary School Tuesday.

Andrew Spiller, member of the Mt. Wade Men’s Senior Mission, said the group believes in the three-stage cycle of learning, where a child learns at home, in church and in school.

“We give donations to the church and to individuals, but we wanted to fulfill the need here,” Spiller said.

Spiller said the mission group chose to donate to Mamie Martin Elementary School because it provides children with their first exposure to education.

“This is the beginning of our children’s education in our community,” Spiller said. “We also wanted to show the teachers that we appreciate them and that someone still cares.”

Charles Williams, member of the Mt. Wade Men’s Senior Mission, agreed with Spiller’s sentiment of recognizing teachers with the donation.

“Sometimes teachers don’t feel appreciated enough,” Williams said. “They are still doing school even when they go home, and they use money out of their own pockets to help our children.”

Williams said the group wanted to provide this donation to remind teachers that they appreciate their contributions to the community.

Rob McCreary, principal of Mamie Martin Elementary School, said the school plans to use the donation to hold a teacher appreciation banquet, as a way to recognize all that the teachers do for the children.

“A wise man once told me, ‘All your growth as a community is only as good as your public schools,’” McCreary said.

Rev. Randolph Hamilton said education of children makes the community stronger.

“Education is much stronger when the community gets behind and supports it,” Hamilton said.

Without the community and support from the individuals within it, the donation would not have been possible, Spiller said.

“We would like to thank all of the people who helped us raise this donation,” Spiller said.