Beach residents take part in Holiday Carol
Residents who attended the Holiday Carol Sing at First Presbyterian Church of Fort Myers on Tuesday, Dec. 14, contributed plenty of canned goods and cash to help The Soup Kitchen of CCMI feed the hungry in Southwest Florida.
About 2,000 pounds of food was donated at the 20th annual Holiday Carol Sing, which was sponsored and organized by the Galloway Family of Dealerships. The canned goods will be distributed immediately to families in need, according to event organizers.
“It is so gratifying to see our community coming together to help those less fortunate, especially during these difficult economic times. The need has never been greater,” said event founder Sam Galloway, Jr.
About 3.000 people attended the three performances, which featured an old-fashioned sing-a-long with the First Presbyterian Church Choir, special guest soloists, and visits from Santa Claus, Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and other holiday characters.
The Holiday Carol Sing is the third of three annual community sing-a-longs presented by First Presbyterian Church and sponsored by the Galloway Family of Dealerships. The other two are Mrs. Edison’s Hymn Sing in February (planned next for February 8 as part of the Edison Festival of Light) and A Midsummer Night’s Sing in July. All three events benefit The Soup Kitchen of CCMI, which was founded by First Presbyterian Church of Fort Myers in 1984.
The Holiday Carol Sing and two hymn sings are major sources of support for CCMI, the umbrella agency for the Soup Kitchen and Customer Choice Food Pantries, Meals on Wheels, Montessori Preschool and Social and Homeless Services. CCMI serves Fort Myers and the greater Lee County area, including Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres. The Soup Kitchen serves a noontime meal six days a week to men, women and children. In addition, CCMI prepares and delivers nutritious packaged meals and beverages for the homebound hungry, offers customer choice food pantries and mobile food pantries that provide emergency groceries to families in need, serves two nutritious meals a day for the children in their Montessori Preschool and oversees a backpack program for local school children who would otherwise receive little to no food on the weekends.
For more information about CCMI, call 332-SOUP or visit www.ccmileecounty.com. For more information about First Presbyterian Church, call 334-2261 or visit www.fpcfortmyers.org.
5.First Presbyterian Church Pastor Paul deJong with his wife Sheryl and youngest daughter Lydia.