How did this year’s KNYE Radio Food Drive for the holidays go?

Saturday, Nov. 22 was an exciting day for Karen Jackson and the members of Southern Nye County Search and Rescue (SAR), with the annual KNYE Radio Food Drive bringing out the generosity of the community and showcasing the power of working together toward a common goal.

At 10 a.m. that morning, the food drive opened with SAR members and other volunteers – a key one of which was Deanna O’Donnell – gathering in front of both Walmart and Albertsons to collect donations of all kinds of items, from stuffing and mashed potatoes to whole frozen turkeys. Plenty of cash made its way into the food drive, as well, helping to boost the overall success of the event.

Arriving at Albertsons roughly an hour into the food drive, the Pahrump Valley Times was greeted by SAR members who all agreed they were thrilled to be able to lend a hand.

“That’s what we’re here for, that’s why we volunteer,” SAR member Ron Taylor remarked with a grin.

He and fellow SAR member John Fowble were manning the station situated between the two entrances of Albertsons, where there was already an impressive amount of donations loaded into shopping carts. “And we’re just getting warmed up,” Taylor enthused, with Fowble adding, “There’ll be some full bellies this Thanksgiving!”

The shopping carts were labeled with each of the event’s recipients, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #10054 Veterans Food Pantry, Pahrump Community Church, New Hope Fellowship, New Faith Fellowship and Heritage Bible Church. As the donations rolled in, they were divvied up between the recipients to ensure they would all receive an equal amount of donations.

Over at Walmart, the food drive was going well, too, with SAR member Maddie Miller reporting, “We just had one lady who came to donate who must have spent over $100. She had her entire car full of stuff!”

All in all, the KNYE Radio Food Drive was able to bring in 16 cartloads of groceries for the local food banks, as well as $3,000 in cash that was also divided between the recipients.

“The food banks will be able to help many less fortunate people in our community have a Thanksgiving, plus filling the VFW with what they need to provide for our vets,” Jackson told the Times afterward. “It was awesome.

“This food drive for the holidays has been the Saturday before Thanksgiving for 19 years,” Jackson continued. “Our former commissioner, Frank Carbone, has never missed our food drive and this year commissioner Bruce Jabbour donated as well. I thank them both for coming out. I also want to thank Southern Nye County Search and Rescue for being my elves, Deanna O’Donnell for joining hands with KNYE’s annual food drive and Albertsons and Walmart for letting us be there. And most of all, thank you to this wonderful community that cares and continues to donate to help our less fortunate.”

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com