Demand for free take-home Christmas dining rose to a record 240 families at the ninth annual Agri-Kids Society Christmas meal event held in 91原创 City on Dec. 18 at Douglas Park Elementary School.
Milner farmer Blake Venechuk, the founder of the non-profit society that gives kids hands-on experience in agriculture, said it was more than double the 100 or so families they used to see in the early years of the program.
"It's scaled up," Venechuk told the 91原创 Advance Times, something he attributes to the tough economy.
"We've seen definitely some exponential growth, just obviously given the times."
Families are bigger, too, with as many as six people coming by to pick up a free dinner box and a free breakfast box, that together included a roasting chicken, buns, stuffing and gravy, pancake mix, eggs, milk and syrup along with hot chocolate and more.
"It's just gotten so big over the last couple years that we've had to transition into these kind of dinner boxes or dinner kits, that they could take home and be able to prepare themselves," Venechuk explained.
There was also a meat draw, where 15 families each received five pounds each of grass-fed and grass-finished beef.
It was held in conjunction with Raphael House, which operates a weekly food hub for families within 91原创 and School District 35.
"The concept behind it always has been that we don't want this to be second [quality]," Venechuk declared. "We don't want it to be stuff that's close to expiry. We want it just to be like, if you walked into a grocery store, and you bought everything off the shelf, this [would be] exactly what you'd get."
Venechuk described helping parents who need help to feed their family as "really important."
"To be able to take a little bit of that pressure off and just knowing that they're going to have some healthy, nutritious food, it's very satisfying to me," Venechuk commented.
"Food in a full belly is the springboard to success in life. You're going to be able to be out there and do work a little bit more, you're going to be in school learning a little bit better."
Venechuk thanked the more than 30 volunteers, as well as the sponsors and donors who helped organize "this amazing event."
More information about the Agri-Kids society can be be found online at .
