The North Kitsap community has again shown its generosity and care for those less fortunate by supporting the Food for Kids Program.

Each summer, when school gets out, children go hungry because they do not have access to the free breakfast and lunch program provided during the school year.  The Food for Kids Program, jointly sponsored by the Greater Kingston Kiwanis Club, Kingston-North Kitsap Rotary, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, and ShareNet and Kingston food banks, seeks to mitigate this problem by providing food packs to children in critical need. Last year, nearly 80 children and youth were served. This year, thanks to the generosity of this community, we have the resources to serve even more.

The Greater Kingston Kiwanis sponsored a Benefit Concert and Beer Fest on June 7 to raise funds for the Food for Kids Program.  While we received much teasing about pairing kids and beer on our advertising, the posters did succeed in raising awareness of the need and the event. The turnout at the Beer Fest was terrific and attendees gave generously.

The Benefit Concert and Beer Fest could not have been so successful, however, without the very generous donations made to the program by the musicians, The Blues Counselors, and the breweries: Der Blokken Brewery, Hood Canal Brewery, Sound Brewery, and Valholl Brewing. CB Nuts donated peanuts for the beer garden.

We are also appreciative of the donations for raffle items from the following businesses: the Ax Handle Cafe, Pizza Factory, the Oak Table Cafe, Columbia Bank, Karen Hart Skin Care, Harbor Hair Design, the Firehouse Theater, Kingston Fitness, Kingston Adventures, White Horse Golf Course, and CB Nuts.

Donations were also received from Little Kitchen Catering, Scoops Bavarian Bratwurst, and The Painted Zebra Face Painting.

In-kind contributions to the event were made by the Port of Kington, the Kingston Chamber of Commerce, Blue Sky Printing, and the Kingston-North Kitsap Rotary.

This coming together of the community to meet the needs of our children is one indicator of why North Kitsap is such a great place to live.

Persons still wishing to donate to Food for Kids may send their check to Greater Kingston Kiwanis Foundation, P.O. Box 830, Kingston, WA 98346.  The Kingston Kiwanis Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit and all donations are tax deductable.

Pat Bennett-Forman
President
Greater Kingston Kiwanis Club