LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX18) — More than 100 volunteers with Operation Secret Santa gathered in Lexington to pack over 2,000 meals in boxes for the organization's annual food drive, working to ensure families have something to eat during the holidays.
For its ninth year, the nonprofit is providing recipe-specific meal boxes that families can prepare using only water, serving households with various kitchen capabilities and access to perishable items.
"We build them recipe-specific. We build them so families can just use water, so we serve all types of families. All types of kitchens. And a lot of people don't have perishable items," Beth Amos, Operation Secret Santa coordinator, said.
Each household receives at least five meals, with the organization able to feed over 10,000 people through their 2,200 meal boxes this year.
Amos said this year marks their largest food drive yet, but the effort has faced challenges following the government shutdown.
"With the government shut down it has been a little more difficult with fundraising. Everyone was very excited to help out early on which was fantastic," Amos said.
Despite the setbacks, the organization continues its mission while focusing on educating young volunteers about food insecurity in central Kentucky.
"This year the focus has been with our volunteers to really share the knowledge with the community, especially with the youth. This opportunity is one of the best opportunities for me because we have so many young children in there and a lot of them have not been faced to food insecurity. So educating our youth in central Kentucky is massively important," Amos said.
With this year's theme being "wickedly good deeds," the organization encourages others to perform their own acts of kindness during the holiday season.
"Just to give and to give without any expectation. Our families come in here, and they just- our volunteer families just want to spread good cheer, so the takeaway for me is to give that back. And we hope everyone who comes in here to help everybody who contributes to making this magic happen can really walk away and feel excited about lifting this community up, especially in 2025," Amos said.
The food boxes are expected to ship out on December 13 before the Christmas holiday.
