The Oklahoma City Downtown Lions Club and Feed the Children are partnering this holiday season to provide food, essentials, books and joy to Eugene Field Elementary School students and their families.
The six-week program kicked off Tuesday, Nov. 5 with a food distribution event serving 400 families at Eugene Field Elementary. During the event, each family received a 25-pound box of food such as canned vegetables, peanut butter and macaroni and cheese and a 15-pound box of essentials like personal-care items such as shampoo, razors and toothpaste and additional products. Feed the Children will also provide 200 meals each school day through Dec. 20 to Eugene Field Elementary to use in their programs as needed.
"Our organization is excited to help brighten the holiday season of students at Eugene Field Elementary," said Dale Swiggett, president, Oklahoma City Downtown Lions Club. "We are looking forward to seeing the smiles on the faces of the children we are serving through this initiative. The Lions Club has a rich and deep history of taking an active interest in the moral welfare of the communities in which we serve and our partnership with Feed the Children is a wonderful example of this interest at work."
In Oklahoma City, 17.1 percent of residents live below the poverty line and many of these families struggle with food insecurity. Unfortunately, this is a trend that stretches across Oklahoma with nearly one out of every six Oklahomans having incomes below the poverty level. Believing education is the best way to break the cycle of poverty, events like this one bring schools, nonprofits and business leaders together to help vulnerable families.
“The holidays can be a stressful time for families. We are excited to partner with Eugene Field Elementary and the Downtown Oklahoma City Lions Club this holiday season,” said Clint McKnight, Feed the Children’s Director of Domestic Programming. “By involving both students and parents, we believe that the benefits of this initiative will have a lasting impact on the community.”
This is one of many events Feed the Children has planned during the holiday season to help defeat childhood hunger in Oklahoma and across the United States through its No Hunger Holidays campaign - transforming hunger into hope. As part of this effort, the nonprofit will provide food and essentials to 5,000 families in Oklahoma and an additional 10,000 across the United States.