Rehoboth Beach Kiwanis Food Collection Project

by Rosemary Cummings

Rehoboth Kiwanis Family (Kiwanis, Key Club, K-Kids) on consecutive Saturdays in November met patrons at Giant in Millville, DE, and Super G and Super Fresh, in Rehoboth to re-supply the Cape Henlopen Food Basket, Inc in Lewes, DE and the Community Food Pantry in Selbyville, DE. While Rehoboth Kiwanis collected just before Thanksgiving, as many other area service organizations did, the Club started the project in June 2009 and will continue to collect food items bi-monthly. There is a great need for assistance as neighbors, many with school children, find they need help putting food on the table for their families. The Food Basket in Lewes provides access to emergency and ongoing food for needy people in the Cape Henlopen School District which includes Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, and Milton and Angola areas. The Community Food Pantry in Selbyville provides basic food items once a month from September through May to the less fortunate in the Indian River School District of lower Sussex County with area churches, organizations, and the Southeast Sussex Ministerium referring clients.

Neighbors shopping Saturday mornings are particularly generous, whether they give a can of green beans or buy the complete list of suggested items, to the appeal of Key Club members and K-Kids. Many often reach in their pockets to make a monetary donation. Kiwanis distributes these funds to the pantries to purchase paper products, meats and other items. Tom Starnes, President of the Food Basket thanked Rehoboth Kiwanis Club for the delivery of the foodstuffs.

He said they could not survive without the support of the local service clubs and the community as they served more than 2500 households representing 7376 individuals this year.