Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Club gives away 500 food boxes
70 people volunteer at Bentonville Kiwanis’ 63rd Guy Wilkerson event
BENTONVILLE — A Kiwanis member stood outside a downtown building 10 seconds before 8 a.m. Christmas Eve and counted down, signaling to a line of cars to pull forward.
Stacks of boxes full of food sat on a table outside and up against the exterior of the building with more inside. Volunteers of all ages began carrying boxes to the cars as drivers and passengers rolled down windows to say how many people they planned to feed.
Two women in the first vehicle in line said they needed boxes for two families. The next in line was a gray pickup decked out with a red Rudolph nose on the front and reindeer antlers on the sides.
More than 70 volunteers gave away 475 boxes of food Monday during the Kiwanis Club of Bentonville’s 63rd Guy Wilkerson food basket giveaway, said event coordinator Bob Silgar and Bobby Smittle, club president.
The club had prepared 500 boxes, Silgar said.
Smittle said the club gave the remaining 25 boxes to the three local agencies: Salvation Army; Souls Harbor, a Rogers shelter for men recovering from substance abuse; and Samaritan Community Center, an organization in Rogers intended to fight hunger.
The number of items — which included foods such as frozen chicken, boxed stuffing, macaroni and cheese, bread and canned vegetables — in the boxes varied by family size.
“We really want to have enough for everyone to have a great holiday meal,” Smittle said.
Boxes were available to anyone who showed up between 8 and 10 a.m. Recipients do not have to sign up or show any proof of need.
The tradition began in 1955 when Kiwanis member Guy Wilkerson gave away 15 food baskets to families in need. The organization has given away more than 500 food baskets each of the past six years.
Wilkerson did most of the work for more than 50 years
and stayed involved with the project until 2012, Smittle said. He died in 2013.
Kiwanis members and local residents donated food and money to buy food for the boxes, and some grocery stores, such as Aldi and Harps, contributed as well, Smittle said.
The event draws at least 40 volunteers each year.
“That’s one thing we never have to worry about,” Smittle said. “There are always enough people to make it happen.”
Club members do have to worry about where it will host the event each year. The Kiwanis Club hosted the food drive at the armory in downtown Bentonville until it closed about seven years ago, Smittle said. Monday’s food drive was in an unoccupied part of a building at 606 S.W. A St.
Volunteer Keith Smith leads a Bentonville-based Trail Life USA troop, which he described as a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts for boys 5-18 years old. He said he has volunteered with the boys at the food drive for about six years.
Smith said volunteering shows the season is about giving back to the community more than receiving gifts.
Kiwanis member Bill Linz has been serving hot chocolate to volunteers for the past four years.
He said hunger knows no age group.
“Many of those families have little ones that we want to have the merriest Christmas,” Linz said.