KINGSBURG – Continuing a tradition that has lasted for more than 20 years, nonprofit Kingsburg Community Assistance Programs and Services (KCAPS) is hosting its annual November food drive for area residents in need.
Donations to the food drive will be accepted Nov. 13-18 and KCAPS is asking that donations be delivered to either its office or thrift store located at 1139 Draper St. in Kingsburg. Aida Rushing, KCAPS executive director, said the food drive is a big event for KCAPS because there is such a great need for food assistance.
“It’s (for) people like us who maybe have lost a job, or a lot of seniors we provide for that are struggling that just need a hand up,” Rushing said. “This food drive is really big to us; it’s really important and we really appreciate how people support us.”
The KCAPS office is open for donations from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday (Nov. 13-17), and donations will be accepted behind the thrift store from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday (Nov. 13-18). Grocery bags for donations will be distributed to most homes around Kingsburg prior to Nov. 13.
According to a flyer from KCAPS, the annual November food drive helps the organization provide food to families for months afterwards. Food received during the drive helps support KCAPS’ normal operations and special food boxes provided at Christmastime.
Rushing said the KCAPS food bank serves around 15 area families every day; in just one month recently, KCAPS spent around $11,000 purchasing food to provide to the community.
KCAPS is a non-denominational Christian ministry that was officially incorporated in 1979 — but has been around for nearly 45 years, Rushing said — that provides assistance to residents in Kingsburg as well as the unincorporated communities of London and Traver. According to KCAPS, between 25,000 and 40,000 meals are provided to community members annually.
The nonprofit is actually a small extension of the Salvation Army, Rushing said, and so they will also be “ringing the bell” for donations around the Kingsburg area during the holiday season. Any donations collected there will go toward the food bank.
This year, KCAPS’ goal is to get 28,000 pounds of food. Rushing said that if people would prefer to give a monetary donation, they can make out a check to KCAPS and put “food drive/food bank” in the memo line to ensure the donation will benefit the food bank.
Rushing said that KCAPS provides families who come to the food bank with multiple bags of groceries that will get them a week or two of meals. She said they do their best to make sure they’re giving families food the families can actually use by providing items that go together for meals, such as all the fixings for spaghetti.
Non-perishable food donations KCAPS is specifically looking for this year include canned meats like tuna, chicken and spam; canned tomato products; pasta sauce; canned beans of all varieties; meals in a can like soups; green beans, corn and mixed vegetables; boxed carbs like pastas and rice; top ramen; and cold cereal.
