By Sarah Mansheim
“This town is amazing.”
So says Siobhan Winters, a Lewisburg retail shop manager who has created a raffle to raise money for the Lewisburg-Fairlea Food Locker. The raffle basket contains over $500 worth of gift certificates for local Lewisburg businesses and a pair of Dansko professional clogs, donated by Wolf Creek Gallery. All of the gift certificates were donated by the shop and business owners.
“I am blown away by their generosity,” says Winters of all of the business owners who contributed to the raffle. Winters manages the children’s boutique Love Child in downtown Lewisburg, and, in addition to working at Love Child, she is a mother of a 19-month-old daughter, Brighid. Winters says her young child inspired her to create this fundraiser in more ways than one. Primarily, says Winters, having a baby at home has kept her from attending any night-time charity events, and also, she says, being a mother has broadened her desire to help her community in a meaningful way.
“Being a mother has made me more aware, and I want to instill community service to my daughter,” she says.
Winters says she wanted to help support the food locker after volunteering there with her good friend Jean Martin. Martin’s parents, Bill and Gloria, are avid volunteers who struggle to keep the food locker full for the people who need it most. The need, Winters says, is “overwhelming.” Not only does the food locker struggle to keep the shelves full, but more and more people are making use of it.
The Lewisburg-Fairlea Food Locker’s mission is to provide healthy food, primarily staples, to low-income individuals and families on a monthly basis. It is an ecumenical ministry, supported by the churches of the greater Lewisburg community and is located at Old Stone Church in Lewisburg. The service area includes Maxwelton, Lewisburg, Fairlea, Clintonville and Caldwell.
One hundred percent of the money donated to the raffle goes to the food locker. Raffle tickets are $10 each or three for $25. The drawing for the raffle basket will take place at Love Child at 6 p.m. during First Fridays on Aug. 7. Tickets are available at Love Child. Call 304-520-4934 to reach the store.
Donations are still being accepted for the raffle. So far, the businesses who have donated gift certificates include The Wild Bean, Serenity Now Outfitters, Love Child, The Bakery on Court Street, The Asylum, The Irish Pub, Greenbrier Valley Baking Company, Edith’s Health Food Store, Osage Pecan Company, Bella the Corner Gourmet, The Front Porch, Lewisburg Diamond and Gold, Country Roads Crossfit, China Palace, Greenbrier Chiropractic Center, Yarid’s, O’Shea’s salon, and more. The basket also includes a pair of professional Dansko shoes, in your size, from Wolf Creek Gallery.
“This raffle is the perfect working-person’s fundraiser,” says Winters. It’s inexpensive and you don’t have to go anywhere to lend your support to the area food locker. And, with all of the money going straight to the food locker, “Everybody wins,” she says.
