Curves donates 5,000 pounds of food

BENTON — Shopping carts by the dozens lined South Main Street on Friday.
The carts were carrying nearly 5,000 pounds of food and nonperishable items collected by Curves members during their March food drive.
Members and other volunteers delivered the food, via the carts donated by Sav-a-Lot and trucks, to the Benton/West City Ministerial Alliance to be distributed to needy families.
"We did two teams of two, the morning team against the afternoon team so it was a friendly competition," explained Curves co-owner Terri Alldredge. "If they brought in 50 pounds or more they got registered for a Samsung tablet."
The Morning Glories and Afternoon Delights collected 4,772 pounds of food, Alldredge reported. The Afternoon Delights was declared the winner of the competition, with just over 80 participants.
Alldredge and her husband Dale have participated in the national Curves initiative during the nine years they've owned the business.
"About four or five years ago we collected 20,000 pounds. That was our biggest one. One year we did over 16,000 pounds. It's still a good amount and it will help them out a little bit."
Vicki Seagle, director of the Benton/West City Ministerial Alliance, gave a big amen to that statement.
"We're excited. People forget about us after Christmas. When these ladies do this it really, really helps us. We just finished up our spring break lunches, so now we can focus on helping people with the food bank," she said. "It's vital we get this food into the building."
Seagle said she had children waiting at the door at 9 a.m. this week awaiting the 11 a.m. lunch serving.
"When you're a child standing at the door at 9 o'clock waiting for lunch, you know they're hungry. If they're standing outside, they're hungry. We don't make them wait. Children have to be fed. Mom and Dad can't hardly do it, but we can. Our children are very resourceful."
Alldredge said she and her husband have offered the food drive "to give back to the community."
She added, "At Christmas time, everybody always gives. People need to eat all year. We usually do it in March and April. We've always done it because it's just a good way to give back to the community."