We just want to thank everyone who came out Saturday, December 11. We teamed up with DeWanna's Food For Thought once again to collect food for the kids in Calcasieu Parish. DeWanna Tarver, the founder of the local initiative explained how serious food insecurity is saying “In the state, 25 percent of students from public schools live in a food-insecure household. In Calcasieu Parish, the number is 31 percent.” Dewanna originally began helping students in Calcasieu with her charity, DeWanna's Closet.

Fast forward five years, it became more apparent that the kids receiving assistance from DeWanna's Closet were not getting enough to eat at home, especially on the weekends. That confirmation came directly from the teachers and faculty of various schools within the Calcasieu Parish School Board system. DeWanna did some research to get a sense of how much food she would need to help and realized the need was both widespread and dire.

This is how Food For Thought was born and today they feed more than 400 children every week right here in Calcasieu Parish. Middle and high school students choose food from a pantry that’s been weighed beforehand, to take home in a bag that’s placed in their backpack.

Food For Thought Food Drive

For the second time this year, The Peoples Station teamed up with DeWanna to help kids who are in need of food. The event took place at the 3rd Avenue Market Basket in Lake Charles and thanks to everyone who donated was a huge success. We just wanted to recognize every single person that came and donated food or monetary funds to help our children in SWLA. By the way, the need is always there so if you would like to donate to this worthy cause click here. Thank you all!

RANKED: Here are the most popular national parks

To determine the most popular national parks in the United States, Stacker compiled data from the National Park Service on the number of recreational visits each site had in 2020. Keep reading to discover the 50 most popular national parks in the United States, in reverse order from #50 to #1. And be sure to check with individuals parks before you visit to find out about ongoing, pandemic-related safety precautions at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

More From 107 JAMZ