Goodfellows Feed 1,080 During Holidays

Written by Gilbert Scales

Jan 08, 2007 at 11:31 PM

Since 1925 American Legion Post #3 has been feeding the needy in the Greenville community through a program called the Goodfellows. Greenville business man Roy Gullick recalls that his dad was working with the Goodfellows as early as 1920. At that time, they were called the United Commercial Travelers. By Gilbert Scales Despite the name change, the mission has remained the same. They collect food items for the needy at Christmas time. More than 52,000 residents of Greenville County live below the federally defined poverty level, according to Richard Duncan, commander of American Legion Post # 3. This year, the Goodfellows through Post #3 set a goal of $30,000 to purchase 1,200 boxes of food. They raised more than $25,000 and presented 1,080 boxes of food to families in the community that were referred by the Greenville County Veterans Affairs Office, the VA Clinic and United Ministries. The American Legion is assisted in the Goodfellows project by Bi-Lo, Pepsi Cola, Greenville Meats and the Greenville News. Some 300 volunteers representing 15 different groups volunteered to help package and load the food in vehicles on a rainy Friday, December 22nd. The number of boxes of food distributed this year outnumbered last year by about 20. The largest number of food boxes distributed was 3,000 according to Cecil Buchanan, a member of Post#3. Packing and distribution of the food boxes took place at the Palmetto Expo Center.