Food drive held in time for holidays
Oaklawn delivered several tons of canned goods and other nonperishable food to local nonprofit organizations in time for the holidays Tuesday as part of the sixth annual Yes! We Can! Food Drive.
It took two box trucks and one overflowing pickup truck to disperse the food that filled the lobby of Oaklawn’s gaming center, Oaklawn Racing & Gaming said in a news release.
The food items were accepted from patrons Nov. 5-12 and delivered to Ali’s A.C.E. (All Created Equal) Food Pantry and Clothes Closet, Jackson House and First United Methodist Community
Food Pantry just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, the release said.
“This is awesome,” said Kay Fleischner, Ali’s A.C.E. coordinator. “This donation is very much appreciated. It’s going to help a lot of families.”
“This is just wonderful,” Janie Smith, executive director of Jackson House, said in the release. “We’re very grateful for this marvelous donation. We’ve seen a higher need among families this fall and we’ve almost spent our entire budget for the year, so this donation is very important in allowing us to meet those needs during the holidays.”
“The Yes! We Can! Food Drive is something both our guests and team members look forward to each year,” said Oaklawn’s director of marketing, Kim Baron. “We’re happy that the promotion seems to get bigger and bigger each year, which allowed us to help three wonderful charities during a time of year when the need is so great.”
For their generosity, patrons were given entries into a cash drawing held Nov. 12 for every food item they brought in during the week.