Kiwanis kicks off Thanksgiving service campaign

Posted

The East Meadow Kiwanis Club kicked off their Thanksgiving charitable campaign this weekend with the annual Holiday Basket Food Drive.

The food drive was held at two local grocery stores on Saturday and Sunday. Foodstuffs collected will be donated to local families in need — and those families won’t be the only people the organization helps this Thanksgiving holiday.

Tables were set up near the entrances of Shop Rite, at 1121 Jerusalem Ave. in Uniondale, as well as Super Stop and Shop in East Meadow. Here, children and Kiwanians handed out flyers describing the group’s philanthropic mission to shoppers. The customers came out of the stores with bags of canned goods and other items for the collection.

The donated food will be used to make holiday baskets for more than 120 families living under trying circumstances in the community. Volunteers will deliver the Thanksgiving dinners this weekend, and all are invited to participate in the service project.

Community members are welcome to help Kiwanians assemble and drop off the baskets. The packages will be put together on Friday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. in the W.T. Clarke High School cafeteria. Volunteers will meet at Clarke again at 9 a.m. the next day before delivering the packages.

The organization also hosts a Thanksgiving program for senior citizens in the community. The 35th annual dinner will be held on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. in the East Meadow High School gymnasium. Volunteers are welcome to help prepare and serve the meal.

Community service is the primary mission of the Kiwanis Club. According to the group’s websites, members strive to fulfill the Kiwanis vision of changing the world, one child and one community at a time.