Tabernacle resident Karen Malone and her family have been making a difference in the lives of others since the 2000s with their “45 Lee Dr Food Drive.” The residency-run food drive helps connect other residents’ donations to local organizations.
Malone and her family started “45 Lee Dr Food Drive ” after receiving assistance from Tabernacle United Methodist Church when they needed it most. This kindness sparked her efforts to give back to them years later, and with Malone’s available time as a stay-at-home mom, she launched her own drive in 2008. The drive started running throughout the summer from July 4 to the beginning of September until the pandemic hit in the Spring of 2020. Since then, Malone and her family have opened the food drive to allow donations all year round.
Malone leaves a bin outside her home everyday for people to drop off things from non-perishable items, such as cereal and crackers, to items for new mothers and babies like baby food, formula and diapers.
According to Malone, when she has a big enough supply of donations, she brings them to Tabernacle United Methodist church to make sure they never run out of supplies for families.
In the early years, Malone recruited her two daughters to help out, and now her 13 year old son has joined the cause.
“This is just something that’s been a normal part of his life and my girls have helped me in every stage.” she said. “It was a family thing, we did it all together.”
Malone hopes her children get involved in their community one day too.
“I’m trying to show my kids how to be proactive in helping others, but also I’m hoping to get the message out to the community that everyone can help,” Malone said. “I’m hoping to influence, not only my kids, but other people who have them and who need to connect them.”
According to Malone, the drive has continued to be successful over the years for many different reasons.
“What I found out in all these years is that there’s a lot of people who need it and they don’t know where to look, they don’t even know where some of the food pantries are. There’s a lot of people who have good hearts and they really want to help but they don’t know how,” Malone said.
Malone also explains how just one bag of donations plays a significant role in someone’s life and how important it is to continue to give back.
“I just want people to realize that there are food pantries out there and they really do need our help and it doesn’t take much to help them, even just a bag every once in a while. I always said if every person in Tabernacle donated one bag of food a year they would never run out.”
Malone plans to continue to connect others through the “45 Lee Dr Food Drive” Facebook page and expand out to provide a resource page for people to see where local food pantries are.
To help out “45 Lee Dr Food Drive” visit the facebook page or help by donating old signs that can be repurpose.
