Photos by Lanell Smith

Kiwanis 1: Kiwanian Sue Blackmon introduces special guests, Donna Kidd with the Salvation Army and Jennifer Bonam with the Crenshaw County Department of Human Resources.

Kiwanis 2: The Luverne Kiwanis Club meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at the Chicken Shack.

Kiwanis 3: Kiwanians hear from Donna Kidd with the Salvation Army and Jennifer Bonam with the Crenshaw County Department of Human Resources. Pictured are (back row, left to right) Judge Jon Folmar, Kyle Richburg, Patsy Owen, Becky Baggett and Sue Blackmon and (front row, left to right) Elaine Sasser, Dale Shepherd, Marsha Baines, Bonam, Kidd, Fran Christian, Alethea Gammage and Lanell Smith.

Kiwanis 4: Kiwanis president Marsha Baines presents Jennifer Bonam with a Kiwanis donation for the Crenshaw County Department of Human Resources. Pictured are (left to right) Kyle Richburg, Dale Shepherd, Baines, Patsy Owen, Bonum, Beckey Baggett and Sue Blackmon.

By Lanell Downs Smith

Each year, the Kiwanis Club of Luverne launches its Christmas season by coordinating area efforts to raise funds for the Salvation Army. Through an initiative commonly known as “bell ringing,” club members volunteer their time outside Food Depot and Ramey’s grocery stores to collect much-needed donations for the organization which helps people in Crenshaw, Pike, Barbour and Bullock Counties.

On National Giving Day, Donna Kidd from the Troy Salvation Army location attended the club’s Dec. 3 meeting, to deliver information about area needs and how the organization uses donations to meet those needs. According to Kidd, funds raised, primarily through bell-ringing efforts, help provide food, clothing and utility bill payments for the elderly and other people in need of assistance.

“One of our biggest things right now is utility and rental assistance,” Kidd said. “We have a pantry on site and we have always been community fed. What I mean by that is people in the community have always supplied our shelves.”

Kiwanis club members brought canned goods to add to the pantry supply and Kidd said community members often purchase extra food while grocery shopping to add to the center’s reserves. People come to the center in Troy from surrounding areas in need of food, or after a crisis event, like a house fire, she explained.

“It’s the little things that you don’t think about, like a spoon or a fork, cups, plates and other things, until you have lost everything,” Kidd said. “We let people shop in our store for things they need. We give families school clothes, too.”

Kidd said the demand has been so great in recent months that needs have surpassed donated items and the center has outsourced their supply by purchasing high-demand items. Donations are welcomed any time and can include non-perishable food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies and household items as well as monetary donations.

“People are struggling right now,” Kidd said. “Everything has gone up 50 cents or $1 at the grocery store. It’s hitting a lot of our fixed income people especially hard and the hardest people for me to get in the door are our senior citizens.”

In fact, Kidd explained that senior citizens are often the most needy, but seldom agree to accept offered help. Many donate, she said, bringing in canned goods even when they need help themselves.

Community members can help by giving donations to bell-ringers at Food Depot or Ramey’s through the Christmas season or delivering needed items to the center at 509 South Brundidge Street in Troy.

Jennifer Bonum with the Crenshaw County Department of Human Resources (DHR) also attended the meeting to describe services DHR offers the community. The club presented Bonum with a $1,000 donation to help meet local needs.

Anyone interested in volunteering time to collect donations for the Salvation Army should call Sue Blackmon at (334) 672-0289.