On Wednesday, January 4, the KIKN 100.5 team, along with family members and friends, volunteered to help serve breakfast at The Banquet in Sioux Falls.

The Banquet, located downtown, has been an essential part of the city for many years. As their mission states:

‘Our mission is to provide a welcoming place where people can gather, receive nourishment and experience love in action and to assist volunteers in providing food and fellowship to those served through the ministry of The Banquet. We will be vigilant in identifying and fulfilling the needs of the hungry in our diverse community and in encouraging the health and wellness of our guests.'

They do just that, and at an incomparable level. In 2016 alone The Banquet served approx. 196,000 meals to members of the community. More than 25,000 of those meals were served to children under the age of 12.

We wanted to help give back to our community and thought this was the perfect time of year to help out. After the holidays, it is common that The Banquet has extra trouble finding groups to serve.

When we arrived this morning to prepare for the meal with our team, the process was easy and enjoyable. We helped set the tables, roll silverware into napkins and prepped the food and dishes.

When people started coming through the doors at 7am, we were excited to not only provide the meal we worked to prepare, but to sit and visit with them and hear their stories.

It is amazing how touching this was. There are some incredible people who walk through those doors, who have gone through things in their lives that you and I could never even imagine. However, with The Banquet's provided meal service, they are able to persevere.

Volunteering to serve at The Banquet is such a simple thing that makes such a big impact on someone else’s life. Without this essential service, many of these indivicuals would have no means of food.

I encourage you to try to help out at The Banquet sometime, especially if you never have before. Even if you do not have a big group you can put together to serve, they are always looking for extra volunteers to hop in on another group that may not have a full team.

If you would like to help in another way, they are always looking for donations. At this time, they're especially in need of donations consisting of: ground coffee, (decaf or caffeinated) any school supplies (particularly spiral notebooks or loose-leaf paper, both college or wide-ruled) and cash donations.

Recently, the building's dish washers were out of service and they had to provide meals using paper products. During those two months, the cost of the paper products cost around $8,000. They are still trying to cover those costs.

You can drop off the supplies or monetary donations any time between 6am and 8pm. For more information on other items they could use, or to make a financial donation online, please visit their website: The Banquet Sioux Falls.

If you would like to get involved by serving a meal, it's very easy to get started. Just visit The Banquet site for more information and instructions on how to sign up: The Banquet Sioux Falls. 

I want to leave you with this thought: we are very lucky to have the lives we live. Just imagine what we take for granted each day without even thinking twice about it. Things like a warm bed, a simple cup of coffee, a piece of fruit or even just clean water. For many of the people who visit The Banquet, the meal they are provided with could be the only food they have to eat all day. Your help can make a lasting impact on someone else's life.

Thank you so much to those who helped us serve Wednesday morning.

Your assistance would be appreciated in any way. Thank you and Happy New Year from KIKN 100.5


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