When you think peanuts this time of year in Forest Park, it doesn’t mean Snoopy, Lucy and Charlie Brown. But Kiwanis Peanut Days are all about kids.
Kiwanis club of Forest Park raised $6,095.75 this year over the Sept. 27-29 weekend, said President Mary Win Connor.
“That’s one of the best years we’ve had,” she said. Connor said volunteers burned through 58 boxes of peanuts, as compared to 49 boxes last year.
Peanut Day Volunteers in Kiwanis vests stood in high profile areas throughout the village and solicited donations. Contributors were given a bag of peanuts.
Other service organizations helped with the drive. These included Forest Park Little League, the Historical Society of Forest Park, Cub Scout Pack 109, Explorers club and the Proviso Math and Science Academy Key Club. Kiwanis shares donations with service clubs who participate.
Forest Park’s Kiwanis club was started in 1923 and has been serving children of the area since then. From Cub Scout and Little League uniforms to trips to the circus, to high school service organizations, Kiwanis has contributed to organizations for kids of Forest Park, Oak Park and River Forest.
Peanut Day is the club’s biggest event of the year. The event starts Friday afternoon and runs through Sunday afternoon.
Kiwanis is an International Service Organization with more than 10,000 local clubs and 650,000 members worldwide. The Forest Park Kiwanis Club meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month from 6:45 p.m. -8:30 p.m. in R Place at 1527 S. Harlem Ave. in Forest Park.
Connor said there were two boxes of peanuts left over after the weekend.
“We’ll be serving peanuts for dessert at the Ed O’Shea dinner this year,” she joked.
