Iowa Town Gets Free Lunch to Help with Disaster Relief

HAMBURG, Iowa, March 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- About 50 volunteers from two states will fan out across Hamburg on Saturday, offering a helping hand and delivering a sack lunch and bottled water as residents clean up from record flooding that left two-thirds of the town under water.

The volunteers are members of Kiwanis clubs in Atlantic, Red Oak and Clarinda, Iowa, and Lincoln Northeast and Bellevue-Offutt, Nebraska. The Kiwanis Club of Atlantic organized the relief effort after receiving a $5,000 disaster relief grant from the Kiwanis Children's Fund. Steve Green, club vice president, said his town was not affected by the flooding; Hamburg, he said, is experiencing a "huge disaster."

"We started talking about what we could do to help, and we thought we could probably help five families clean up … but we thought if we made lunch and delivered it, we could help even more people," Green said. Volunteers will gather at a church in Atlantic on Friday evening and make 2,000 lunches. Club member Tony Schmidtke manages the Atlantic Fareway grocery store and gave the club a discount on food items, including ham and cheese for sandwiches, potato chips, granola bars and celery and carrot sticks.

On Saturday the clubs will travel to Hamburg in the southwest corner of Iowa and meet at a church at 10 a.m.   

"We'll go door-to-door, not just go to the central site and drop off the food," he said. "We have 50 volunteers, and I have my map with the streets marked off, for every volunteer. Everyone will have a street."

The town has about 1,000 residents, and the club is fixing about 2,000 lunches and plans to leave extra food with the local Red Cross.

The Kiwanis Children's Fund administers grants for disaster relief to provide almost immediate cash to help clubs and districts get supplies to people who are most in need. Each grant supports Kiwanis-led disaster relief efforts that address crucial, immediate needs of the affected community.

Founded in 1915, Kiwanis International is a global organization of clubs and members dedicated to serving the children of the world. The Kiwanis International family comprises more than 551,000 adult and youth members in 80 nations and geographic areas. Visit kiwanis.org for more information.

All 7,000 Kiwanis clubs make a positive impact for children in its community. Club members assess the needs and find ways to meet them. You're invited to make a difference in your community with Kiwanis. Find your closest club at kiwanis.org/join.

Media Contact:
Steve Green
(712) 249-9664
[email protected]

SOURCE Kiwanis International

Related Links

https://www.kiwanis.org