Kiwanis Club of Lake City

After heeding the call  to action, Kiwanis Club of Lake City, in cooperation with Catholic Charities and Suwannee Valley Food Bank, pulled together in a short time the resources and manpower to bring about one of the most successful food drive events in recent history. On Saturday August 28, over 40 volunteers from Kiwanis, Catholic Charities, and Suwannee Valley Food Bank came out and worked tirelessly collecting donations.

Columbia County has been very generous with their donations of food and money to combat this growing epidemic. At the end of the day, over 1800 pounds of food had been collected. This represents the largest single day collection of food for the food bank in Columbia County that anyone can remember. Dozens of businesses were represented and will continue to support the food drive throughout September.

Collection points are in place at the following merchants:

Recent studies show that in Columbia County, one out of three children do not have sufficient resources for a balanced meal and many don't have even the very basic necessities. After seeing these statistics and realizing that this is one cause that is not only perfectly in tune with the Kiwanis motto, Serving the children of the world, but also an example of how we can do a great service within our own community, we knew immediately what had to be done.

Now that Kiwanis Club of Lake City has partnered with Catholic Charities and Suwannee Valley Food Bank, we hope to continue bringing awareness to this problem and eradicate hunger through the generous support of folks in the community. As pressure increases on agencies providing basic food items to families - and children - in need, we have to step up to the plate and hit the home run that will win this struggle against hunger. Kiwanians will continue to be out in force, going from business to business gathering support and food to remedy this growing problem.

As you travel across Columbia County, take note of the collection bins that are placed inside area businesses and remember that a child in your community - our community - is in need and your donation, no matter how small will determine whether a child goes to bed hungry. If you don't happen to see a collection bin at the businesses you frequent, please don't hesitate to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it so we can make arrangements to get one in place.

Please join us in our efforts to eradicate hunger. You can keep up to date at our event page on facebook and invite all of your friends and family to participate. Take the time today to make an effort to spread the word. If everyone helps a little, the need will be met fully. A downloadable flier for your business bulletin board is available here.

Items that are especially needed include:

• Canned Foods
• Dried Beans/Peas
• Bagged Rice
• Powdered Milk
• Boxed Cereals
• Baby Formula
• Peanut Butter & Jellies