- April 19, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Barbara Perryman's living room was taken over one Wednesday afternoon by a sea of blue bags filled with food for needy kids.
The Junior League Daytona Beach fed 64 children Dec. 16 from the Great Kids Explorer Club in Ormond Beach. Each child received two bags of food and a bag of toys for them and their siblings, donated by the First United Methodist Church congregation, 336 S Halifax Dr.
"Members of the congregation selected an angel from our tree with the kid's name on it," GKEC Executive Director Kathy Morelli said. "The kids put their ideas down and we made it happen."
"It's really going to make some of these families' Christmases." Michelle Caudell, chair of the Great Kids Holiday Food Drive
GKEC is an early intervention program targeting at-risk students from kindergarten through fifth-grade. Located at First United Methodist Church, the kids attending the program are from Tomoka Elementary School, Ormond Beach Elementary School, Osceola Elementary School and Ortona Elementary School.
JLDB has been partnering with GKEC for over a decade for the Great Kids Holiday Food Drive, and President Darlynn Tacinelli said it's one of her organization's favorite projects.
"It's really wonderful," she said. "It's a nice for our organization to realize that these kids go home on winter break, and they don't have the nourishment that they are provided with during school. To be able to provide that is really exciting for us."
GKEC Volunteer Pam Fitzgerald said she really just wants to help the kids.
"Those are my babies," she said with her hand over her heart. "I want to help them succeed. I just love them all so much."
