For the second year in a row, the Greater Taylor Chamber of Commerce is giving welcome bags to new teachers.
About 65 educators in the Taylor Independent School District and 10 at St. Mary’s Catholic School will be recipients, organizers said.
The Chamber is accepting donations from area businesses to fill 75 bags. Officials presented 71 last year.
“This is something we do to welcome teachers to Taylor ISD or St. Mary’s Catholic School,” said Rachael Westerman, the Chamber’s membership director. “It gives our members a chance to show these educators who they are and what they do. Teachers in the community are also customers of these businesses.”
The welcome bags contain school or business merchandise, gifts, coupons, pens, notebooks or snacks.
“When we did this last year, it was huge,” Westerman said.
The deadline for donations is 10 a.m. July 24. Items can be dropped off at the Chamber office at 1519 N. Main St.
“The goal is to have the items by the 24th, so we can spend the weekend putting the bags together,” Westerman said.
Westerman plans to drop the bags off at the Taylor ISD Special Event Center, 3101 N. Main St., July 28. The bags for St. Mary’s teachers will be delivered to St. Mary’s of the Assumption Catholic Church,
“The teachers will receive the bags at orientation,” Westerman said. “That’s part of the excitement – receiving the bags as they’re being welcomed by the school staff and administration.”
Prior to 2025, the last welcome bag collection took place in 2019. The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 paused the effort.
