Bright orange vests dotted intersections this weekend for the Forest Park Kiwanis’s annual Peanut Day fundraiser.
This year, Ferrara Candy donated cases of Trollis — a sweet and sour candy — to support the efforts of the local club to hand out as a nut-free option. A long tradition of Kiwanis Clubs, the weekend creates a space for smaller donations to be collected that add up to make a big impact in the next year.
The Forest Park Kiwanis Club is a service organization that has been giving support to local youth programs in town for 100 years, exactly one century, as the club is celebrating its centennial later this month.
The local Kiwanis Club has been a major donor to Forest Park youth sports, school programs, scouting, scholarships, Camp Independence, and more. Over the 10 decades of service the local club sponsored youth activities that fit with the community needs of the time including paying for the first lifeguard at the first public pool in town, sponsoring the local youth football team, and taking busloads of kids to the annual trip to the circus or to see Cubs or Sox games.
This weekend the club, with the help of volunteers, went through nearly 100 pounds of peanuts and Ferrara Candy Trollis. Youth groups, such as scouts, split the collections with the Kiwanis Club. While the final numbers are still being tallied, the club estimates collections to be more than $2,000, which will be distributed throughout youth groups in the next year.
“We are incredibly grateful to all the people who contributed to this year’s peanut drive,” said Kiwanis President, Kristen Lyons, “it takes many hands, big and small, to make the Kiwanis peanut weekend a success, and this year it was.”
