Wasco Tribune - Serving the community since 1970

The Shafter Kiwanis Club held their annual Food Basket Giveaway earlier this month, blessing 75 families with food baskets for the holidays. The club partnered with Shafter Healthy Start, which identified the families in need this holiday season.

According to Ben Wilson, who was in charge of the event, each family received boxes of canned goods, as well as miscellaneous items, such as boxes of pasta and cereal.

Jamie Stewart | The Shafter Press

It was a team effort, with members of numerous local groups, including the Shafter Recreation Department's Philip Jimenez, who is on the far right, working together to get the boxes ready for delivery.

The baskets were filled with donations from the community. Food drives were held at the local elementary schools, with students collecting the items for the needy recipients.

Together, the schools collected enough food for almost 100 boxes. "We had enough to give larger families extra boxes of food," said Wilson.

After the food drives were held, the bounty was delivered to the Shafter Kiwanis Club, which organized the distribution of the packages.

They had a lot of help packing the boxes from the Shafter High Key Club and the girls volleyball team, as well as members of the Shafter Healthy Start and Kiwanis club members.

The Shafter High Key Club is an extension of the Shafter Kiwanis Club, with its members committed to serving the community, especially its youth. "The Key Club is modeled after the Kiwanis Club, doing community service projects throughout the year," Wilson said.