Rock Island Today

An 11-year-old is helping to make sure that students in the Geneseo School District regularly have enough milk to drink.

Eli Palmer along with the school district is working with the Save A Lot Grocery store to donate gallons of 2% milk to families who are dealing with economic hardships related to COVID-19, the Geneseo Republic reported in late April. For each gallon of milk a customer purchases from Save A Lot, the store donates a gallon. 

The school district also offers food pickup to those in need, the Geneseo Republic reported, and that 240 Geneseo School District families receive food and supplies through the meal service. 

David Santee, who is the manager of Geneseo Save A Lot said beginning on May 6, the Save A Lot has 240 gallons of 2% milk to donate to the families in need.

“I will tally up the donations from the register each day so I know what to order each week,” Santee told the Geneseo Republic. “It is a good cause and I want to help make sure the kids stay fed and can take an extra gallon of milk every week when they pick up their meals.”

Styphanie Palmer, Eli's mother, said her son loves milk. She says he drinks 2 cartons of milk per day.

“Eli loves milk and he drinks two cartons of milk at lunch every day,” Styphanie Palmer told the Geneseo Republic, and added that more than $1,000 has already been donated by local businesses and concerned residents.

Palmer asked that residents only donate what they can afford to give.

“There is no pressure to donate and we ask that you only donate what you can afford,” she told the Geneseo Republic. “It would be great to be able to help out families in our Geneseo community during these trying times.”