Feed Lee’s Summit to rally community, show ‘fellowship our community is known for’

The annual Feed Lee’s Summit is always a big deal for the city, with celebrity presentations by K.C. Wolf, Tech N9ne and Mayor Bill Baird. This year’s a little different: It’s virtual, like so many other charitable events in the metro area.

But the event, which launches at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, will still showcase music, a silent auction, raffle and local celebrity presentations. The Lee’s Summit Sunrise Rotary Club hopes to raise $100,000 to give to four nonprofits in the community: Coldwater of Lee’s Summit, One Good Meal, Meals on Wheels of Lee’s Summit and Lee’s Summit Social Services.

Carl Froeschle, chairman of the event, said Feed Lee’s Summit is a way for the community to provide resources to organizations that offer assistance to those in need.

“In pre-COVID times, 6 to 8 percent of Lee’s Summit residents required food assistance. With our current COVID environment, those in need of food support have vastly increased,” Froeschle said.

“This is an easy way for people to contribute, and it should be a fun and entertaining evening for those who do participate.”

Participants must first register online and purchase a ticket, which will allow them to take part in the silent auction and raffle.

“The tickets are an opportunity to make a donation,” Foeschle said. “We suggest donation levels based on how many people it would feed. A $23 donation would feed one person for one week whereas $100 would feed an entire family.”

Monica Humbard, the executive director of Coldwater of Lee’s Summit, said the Sunrise Rotary Club understands the importance of the organizations that benefit from Feed Lee’s Summit.

“We are all working together to care for the weakest population in our community, which only makes us stronger as a community,” Humbard said. “For Coldwater, these proceeds mean more chronically hungry families can receive healthier food throughout the year.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Coldwater has seen an increase in visits to the food pantry from families due to workers who have lost jobs or been furloughed.

“When we compared the amount of food distributed from March 1, 2019, through July 31, 2019, to the amount distributed for the same period in 2020, we realized we had increased distribution during that time period from 23,130 pounds in 2019 to 60,015 pounds in 2020,” Humbard said.

Heading into the winter months, the number of those who need food usually escalates, but with COVID-19 exacerbating hardships, the need has gone much deeper in Lee’s Summit as many individuals who have never been to a food pantry before now need help.

“This year we are expecting an even larger increase in the requests for food assistance during the winter months of 2020 because a greater number of people will be without work,” Humbard said, adding that healthcare expenses are also expected to go up. “The funds the Sunrise Rotary is raising will help Coldwater and these other organizations address the constantly increasing food needs we are seeing.”

Humbard stressed that Feed Lee’s Summit is the perfect example of how the community unites to care for one another.

“The donors who will make this event successful and the volunteers who are bravely continuing to serve are true heroes to those of us who run these organizations,” Humbard said. “We really have no idea what the future will look like. One day we can be the person helping others and the next day we can be the one seeking help, but together we can ensure we all make it through no matter what the future brings.”

Meals on Wheels of Lee’s Summit delivers meals to those who are shut-in and not always able to cook their own food. The group’s president, Susie Newsam, said the number of clients served daily has grown to 80 people during the pandemic.

“A large percentage of the Lee’s Summit elderly residents are shut-in, COVID or no COVID, and many of them don’t have family locally to help them,” Newsam said. “Also, a lot of families are reaching out for additional help because they cannot visit them as much as before.”

Matt Sanning, the executive director of Lee’s Summit Social Services, heads up an organization that gives back to the community in a number of ways, from providing food and other basic needs to offering budget counseling, home repair, prescriptions, toiletry items, school supplies and helping people stay in their homes.

“Right now, our job primarily is to keep people in their homes in the form of utility and rental assistance,” Sanning said. “Our average assistance per household went from $300 to over $1,500 per household during the pandemic. We still have individuals who have always needed our assistance, but because of COVID-19, more people have entered into this situation along with those we have always helped.”

If Feed Lee’s Summit meets their goal of raising $100,000, Sanning said the monetary support received from it will go toward their emergency services.

“The money donated is going directly back into the community,” Sanning said. “The more we have, the more we can give back. If we average about $500 per household in assistance, that $25,000 we receive will save 25 homes. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s a lot.”

According to Sanning, participating in Feed Lee’s Summit is a fantastic way those struggling through the pandemic.

“Support like this means the world as it raises awareness and it makes sure we have the tools we need to help the families that need it the most,” Sanning said.

“The Sunrise Rotary Club should be applauded for what they are doing,as to pull off an event like this is epic. By participating, we can get back together and show the type of fellowship our community is known for.”

For more information or to register for Feed Lee’s Summit, please go to https://feedls.org/.