This year’s Kiwanis Canby Community Food & Toy Drive delivered joy and festive fun to a large segment of the Canby community in need.
As always, it was a massive endeavor that was made a bit more problematic with construction on Highway 99E tamping down the usual source of finances for the program.
With the 66th annual Kiwanis Canby Community Food & Toy Drive a wrap for 2024, longtime chair Sharon Schneider said, “It was heartwarming to see so much community support and to be able to help so many of our neighbors. We provided grocery cards to 515 families, plus toys for 1,100 children.”
Altogether, the drive served 2,300 people living within the borders of the Canby School District.
This year, the food and toy drive needed more financial help than usual for the event. The Kiwanis Thrift Store, which provides most of the funding for the drive, was hard-hit by ODOT’s reconstruction along 99E. That took a big financial bite out of the normal fundraising efforts for the drive.
Fortunately, Canby came through in big ways, both financially and in terms of volunteers.