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Kiwanis Club donates $500 to Stone Soup Food Pantry
BY JACOB HUNSANGER
810-452-2609
• jhunsanger@mihomepaper.com
On Wednesday, members of the Lapeer Kiwanis Club headed by president Jeff Clemens presented a check for $500 to local food pantry founder Steve Macleod. LAPEER — Stone Soup Food Pantry is going to be able to purchase a lot more fresh vegetables, fruits, meats and other food items in the coming months thanks to a donation last week from the Lapeer Kiwanis Club.
On Wednesday, members of the Lapeer Kiwanis Club headed by president Jeff Clemens presented a check for $500 to local food pantry founder Steve Macleod. That money will be used by Stone Soup for further food purchases and operations, making sure anyone in need is given the food they require to get through what has been a long, bitterly cold winter.
“Stone Soup Food Pantry lead by Steve Macleod and his team have been growing their Food Pantry to help fill the needs of families in the Lapeer area,” Clemens told The County Press. He said the club was inspired by Stone Soup Food Pantry’s mission statement, “To be stewards for the collection and rescue of surplus foods that will be distributed to hungry people in our community.” With that in mind, the local service organization decided donate funds to help support their efforts in one of the harshest winters in recent memory.
“They have grown with the moral of the story ‘Stone Soup’ that by working together, with everyone contributing what they can, a greater good is achieved,” Clemens said, pointing out that Stone Soup is currently serving over 6,000 families from the area each month.
Along with help from the Kiwanis Club, Stone Soup has also partnered recently with other organizations to expand their operations and start exciting programs such as Project Raising Hope. In Project Raising Hope, Stone Soup has teamed up with the Lapeer FFA (Future Farmers of America) in a mutually beneficial partnership. The students in FFA get agricultural and husbandry experience by raising animals, and when mature and ready those animals are then donated and processed for the local food pantry. The program, said Clemens, also provides mentorship to students with developmental disabilities.
Clemens said, “After a heartfelt program given by Steve and the team at Stone Soup during one of our Kiwanis meetings, we found that Stone Soup is in need of a cooler room to help them with their need to keep fresh dairy products (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.). The room is a big expense and if we can all contribute what we can, this cooler room can be achieved.”
The cooler room, he added, will open up even more opportunities for the food pantry to help provide for the needs of families in the community. Before presenting the check to Stone Soup founder Steve Macleod, Kiwanis Club members toured the facility at 475 S. Court St., Lapeer.
“We have experienced the awesome works of Stone Soup,” Clemens said, adding that the club was “honored” to donate funds to support the organization that helps so many local families in need.
Kiwanis donates $6,400 to Seven Ponds towards student visits.
BY JACOB HUNSANGER
810-452-2609
• jhunsanger@mihomepaper.com
Thanks to a generous donation from the Lapeer Kiwanis Club, a lot of local elementary students are going to have the opportunity to visit Seven Ponds Nature Center in Dryden Township this school year. Recently, the Kiwanis Club members presented a check in the amount of $6,400 to Seven Ponds director Mike Champagne.
“Lapeer Kiwanis has supported Seven Ponds in the past with many of their children’s programs,” said new Kiwanis president Jeff Clemens, “and making a commitment of getting elementary kids to the Nature Center. The donation to Seven Ponds Nature Center, Clemens said, will allow five Lapeer elementary schools’ second through fourth grade students the opportunity to visit the center.
Champagne said that in addition to the students from LCS schools, the Kiwanis Club’s donation will also sponsor grades from Chatfield School,
Bishop Kelley Catholic School and St. Paul Lutheran School to visit the nature center this fall. “I think it’s been very beneficial,” Champagne said.
In its 47 years of operations, Seven Ponds Nature Center has always had a mission to teach children about the outdoors, Champaign said. He noted
that with budget cuts in recent years at local schools, it has become increasingly difficult for students to take field trips to Seven Ponds. That makes the donations from Kiwanis, along with other local organizations, all the more appreciated by Champaign and the rest of the staff at Seven Ponds.
“This is just one of many great things Lapeer Kiwanis Club does through the year to serve the children of the world,” Clemens added, proud of the club’s generosity.
