The Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida Inc. spearheads the 2015 Strike Out Hunger Food Drive and Thanksgiving Basket Giveaway, together with its partners, which aims to collect 100000 pounds of nonperishable food items from the entire Alachua County community to help feed hungry and needy families during the holiday season.
According to Gainesville, the collected food will be distributed to different food banks and pantries around Alachua County. This will help them have food ready for the families during holiday season, in case of a decline in supply.
Cash and checks are also accepted. Rodney Long, president and founder of the King Commission, said they will also be giving out Thanksgiving meals. The monetary donations and donations from various sponsors will be used for this purpose. "The Thanksgiving baskets we give away are all filled with items, including turkeys, that are brought fresh from grocery stores," Long said.
They are also accepting volunteers to help in packing and preparing the Thanksgiving baskets.
Food donations will be collected from 8 a.m.- 7 p.m. Monday at the Alachua County Fairgrounds at 3100 NE 39th Ave. Individuals, groups, and families are encouraged to donate canned goods, cereal, peanut butter and jelly and pasta.
"We really encourage people to donate kid-friendly non-perishable food items, such as oodles and noodles, peanut butter and jelly and things like that," Long said. These perishable food will be handed out to the Food4Kids Backpack Program of North Florida and others.
For monetary contributions, the drop off point is located at Long Foundation at 1712 NE Waldo Road, Gainesville, Florida, 32609. Check can be made payable to the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission of Florida Inc.
Families who are recipients of this purpose can pick up their Thanksgiving baskets on Tuesday at the fairgrounds. If you have referrals, contact Alachua County Social Services office at 352-264-6750.
Last year, a total of 875 Thanksgiving baskets were distributed to families, benefiting a total of 6,551 individuals. The goal this year is to be able to distribute 1000 Thanksgiving baskets.
