The LaFayette Area Empty Stocking Fund board, volunteers from Roper Corporation, area civic organizations, and individual volunteers will distribute bags of groceries prepared for more than 750 applicants for this year's holiday season, on Friday.
On Wednesday at 9 a.m., the LaFayette Rotary Club and other volunteers will unload trucks of groceries at the Walker County Agriculture Center in Rock Spring.
On Thursday at 8:30, members of the GFWC Georgia LaFayette Woman's Club, Walker County Fire Department, and other volunteers will bag the groceries for distribution on Friday from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the Ag Center. Community Volunteers are invited to help these three days, also.
"There were 722 applicants on the Friday before the deadline, so the committee is planning for a large turnout," said board member Ales Campbell, President of the GFWC Georgia LaFayette Woman's Club. Campbell stated, "The hard work it takes each year to keep the United Way and funding, gather other donations, and coordinate the distribution of that much food is worth it for the families of our county who need a little help this time of year."
Volunteers will be working all three days to make sure all eligible applicants receive bags of groceries bought wholesale from LaFayette Shop-Rite, depending on the size of the applicant's family. The Empty Stocking Fund is in its 39th year. It started in LaFayette in 1973 and has expanded to all of Walker County. It is funded through the United Way and other community donors.