While many start their summer relaxing and embracing the fresh sun, the local volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started their summer with a food drive to benefit South King County residents.

On June 13, the church delivered 1,257 cases of food to four local organizations. The cases contained important basics such as milk, rice, pasta, tomatoes, peanut butter, canned fruit, and dish soap and came directly from Salt Lake City.

Ten volunteers helped distribute the packages to Renton’s King of Kings Lutheran Church, Kent Food Bank, New Beginnings Christian Fellowship in Kent and the John Volken Academy in Kent.

“Our goal was to help other community members, other church communities, in their efforts to feed those people in need,” said Brother Daniel Kidd, event organizer and active participant. “For that goal, I believe we were very, very successful. We were able to distribute over 1,200 cases of food and various types of food to the different organizations.”

Kidd has been a member of the church since his birth in Southern Idaho. He took his mission trip in Northern England as a teenager and has been devoted to his faith ever since.

Kidd worked in the church’s men’s organization and as a Sunday school teacher before he was called into this line of work around five years ago.

“Volunteering helps fulfill what Christ’s mission is, which is to help others,” Kidd said. “It helps me fulfill that in a community effort. I have gained many different relationships with community members in the city of Renton.”

Kidd and the church work with the Renton community, as well as in the surrounding cities like Bellevue, Kent, and parts of Seattle.

The church partnered with the four aforementioned groups in the Renton area because of their need for this food, but also because of their ability to handle the large size of this drive.

“These organizations had the biggest need at this particular point of time,” Kidd stated on his decisions on partners. “We sorted through those with the biggest need and those that could handle this. It is hard to handle all this food at one time. This has a pretty massive scale bringing a whole semi load of food up.”

Helping those in need has always been a central focus of the LDS church. Their food canning and production program has been running since the 1940s, right after the Great Depression.

While this drive was sponsored by the church, Kidd emphasized how it is not a matter of conversion — it is just about how they can help.

“We reach out to different community members, via the church or other organizations, and we build relationships with them in a non-proselytizing manner,” he said.

Kidd also commented on how one does not need to be a member of the church to volunteer and help solve the food shortage crisis in Washington. He gave his opinion on the best way for anyone to help:

“Our church has a website called justserve.org and that is a connecting website showing you different opportunities to serve in this area. Again, it is non-denominational, it has no affiliation with the church at all other than we put the website up and help manage it. You can go on justserve.org and you can find opportunities to serve throughout the community.”

On June 13, the Church of Latter-day Saints delivered 1,257 cases of food to four local organizations. Courtesy photo

On June 13, the Church of Latter-day Saints delivered 1,257 cases of food to four local organizations. Courtesy photo