Goodfellows Food Drive is short 300 boxes this year. How to help donate to those in need.
In the early 1920s, four traveling Greenville salesmen saw the need to provide for families who would go without a meal on Christmas Day. Together, they went door to door to the homes of the hungry, handing out 50 wire-handled wooden baskets of food. This act of kindness began the Goodfellows Food Program.
In 1925, the James F. Daniel, Jr. Post 3 of the American Legion became the program sponsor, continuing to distribute around 1,000 boxes of food each year. The Goodfellows Food Drive is an annual charity service that provides a box of food consisting of one to three meals to a family or individual in need every holiday season.
The program is now in its 99th year.
Last year, the Drive saw success, with over 1,008 boxes of food distributed to those in need. However, Don Patterson, Adjutant with the Post, said this has not been the case this year, with donations low.
"We partner with the Veterans Affairs office, and they have so many vouchers to give out to veterans. The bulk of our recipients come through the United Ministries on Pendleton Street. They vet who they give them out to and make sure they are who needs to be getting them," Patterson said. "And so we're going to give out 720 boxes this year. We're down 300 from last year."
Now that all vouchers have been given out, Patterson hopes the Greenville community will find it in their hearts to donate any amount to keep the gift of giving going.
"The money we donate is all donated. There's no Post money, no budget for this at the Post. It's all donations. It's been that way since we started," he said. "Our budget this year is $40K. It really needs to be $60K or $70K. What we have left over this year goes into next year's budget, and we hope we can accumulate a little bit more."
If you are interested in participating in Goodfellows this year, the program will be packing food boxes on Thursday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. at the Greenville Convention Center, Hall 2. On Friday, Dec. 22, the boxes will be passed out at 8 a.m. and will receive donations anytime. Each box will contain about 50 pounds of food with fresh chicken donated this year by Greenville Meats, with dry goods provided by Bargain Foods in Pelzer.
"We hope that these families that receive these boxes realize that somebody's thinking about them and we hope that they have a good Christmas, a good holiday period," Patterson said.
Donations to Goodfellows can be made via Paypal, Venmo, or personal check mailed to the following address: The Goodfellows Club, P.O. Box 133, Greenville, SC 29602
Paypal: James F. Daniel Jr American Legion Post 3
Venmo: @TALP3SC
Credit or debit card donations are also accepted.
Nina Tran covers trending topics. Reach her via email at ntran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Looking for a way to give back this holiday season? Donate to Goodfellows.
