For the second year running, the Barnyard Flea Markets, led by owner Alec Chaplin, have made a significant Yuletide donation to a local food bank. This year the company, which runs five flea markets in South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, gave $10,000 to Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia, S.C.
Chaplin gave a check for $10,000 to the food bank this morning, according to a news report on WLTX.com, the CBS affiliate for Columbia. Of the amount donated, $5,000 came from a fundraising drive held at the market’s “Santa’s Land” event, an impressive display of holiday-theme lights and visits with Santa held at the Lexington Barnyard Flea Market. Admission is free, but visitors are encouraged to donate food or money there.
At the donation event today, Chaplin said, “It’s 70,000 pounds of food. I know there are a lot of people in need right now, even more than usual. We hope that this will help in a lot of ways.”
The donation will be used to feed the hungry in the Midlands part of South Carolina.
Barnyard Flea Markets has been in operation for over 20 years, hosting over 500 vendors at each of its five locations. Harvest Hope Food Bank, a non-profit organization founded in 1981 as an emergency food box program, now collects, stores and distributes food and related items to more than 400 qualified agencies engaged in feeding needy, elderly and ill families and children throughout central South Carolina. On average, Harvest Hope distributes over 19 million pounds of food per year.
Photo credits, with thanks: WLTX and MidlandsBiz.