KWED records another successful Holiday Food and Toy Drive
(Seguin) — There was a massive turnout for Friday’s annual KWED Holiday Food and Toy Drive.
A truckload of new unwrapped toys were collected for the Seguin Police Department’s Blue Santa program, along with several hundred pounds of food that was collected for the Christian Cupboard.
The collection effort also brought in more than $9,000 that will be jointly shared by both non-profit organizations.
Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen was among the special guests on hand for this year’s event.
“It’s just such a wonderful thing that we do here in Seguin and it’s so needed both with Blue Santa and the food drive for the Christian Cupboard. We need those things at this point in time and so please come and give or just come by and honk at us. We will wave at you and smile, I promise,” said Dodgen.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher also shared his holiday greeting with the community, and says the food and toy drive is an important event for the entire community.
“We at the county definitely want to be a part of this food and toy drive because it’s about community. It’s about giving back. We want to be a good example. We want to set that example for others and for our community to come out and help those in need. So that’s why we show up. We’ve got the sheriff. We’ve got our chief deputy. We have law enforcement and other representatives from the county so it’s important for us to be here,” said Kutscher.
The Food and Toy Drive is really a community event, and brings in people from all walks of life, including Texas Lutheran University President Debbie Cottrell who says TLU believes its important for them to give back to the community during times like these.
“It’s really incredibly important. It’s a great opportunity for us. We love coming out with our students, our football players are always in the lead on this. We know it’s a great way to connect with our community, to be a part of a great cause and to do what we should be doing to help Seguin,” said Cottrell.
The food collected on Friday totaled nearly 800 pounds. The food will be put to good use by the Christian Cupboard.
Christian Cupboard Volunteer Kathy Yandell says the need is great this year.
“I was looking at some figures yesterday. For October, we served 870 families at the Cupboard. For November, the best that I could calculate with the notes they keep was 871 families for November. There’s obviously some food scarcely going on here in Seguin,” said Yandell.
Much like the food that was donated, the need is also great for the Seguin Police Department’s Blue Santa program.
Community Engagement Officer Sarah Chilutti says Friday’s gifts will help make this season a little bit brighter for kids across Seguin and Guadalupe County.
“Our big thing right now is just if you know a family in need, you are welcome to come and pick up an application for them to drop it off. If they are not able to come and pick it up themselves, spread the word but our goal is to help 1,500 children this Christmas. We were able to help 1,300 last year so we are always trying to help more and more especially as we are growing as a city. Any little bit helps. Anyway you want to help whether it’s wrapping presents, donating toys, if you want to donate material to wrap presents. Any little bit helps with this program and it wouldn’t be possible without our community,” said Chilutti.
The Food and Toy Drive is an annual tradition for the KWED staff, and it includes great support from the community.
We thank all who gave this year.
We also thank the sponsors and partners for this year’s drive.
That list includes Walmart, Beck & Beck Buick GMC, Steele Hyundai in New Braunfels, Joe Cools A/C and Heating, Buddy’s Home Furnishings, Bill Miller’s Barbecue, Wal-Mart, Su Casa Café, Dutch Bros Coffee, and The Palms Mexican Restaurant.
They each made donations that helped keep our volunteers well fed during this year’s event.
A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers that showed up early Friday morning, including representatives from local businesses and organizations, the city of Seguin, Guadalupe County, the Seguin ISD, the Navarro ISD, Texas Lutheran University, the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce and the Seguin-Guadalupe County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
If you missed your chance to drop off items during Friday’s Food and Toy Drive, you can still drop items off at the KWED Studios, located at 609 East Court St. Lobby doors are open Mondays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Friday’s from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
