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Riverton Kiwanis Sponsor Food Donation Box

Jeb Brown and his son Colt Brown
Erica Brown
Jeb Brown and his son Colt Brown

The Riverton Kiwanis Club is funding a food donation box in that community for residents in need.

It’s called a “blessing box,” and the club has set it up at Riverton High School, 841 North 3rd St. Those in need can pick up food and other essential supplies if they need them.

Jeb Brown is the president of the club. Brown, who also owns a music venue, said he and his son visit the donation box five to seven times a day to fill it.

“That’s kind of like my norm right now,” Brown said. “My business is way down. Of course, my music venue is closed down, so I just turned it into helping the community until things somewhat normalize.”

Brown said the pandemic left many community members without the means to provide for themselves.

“There’s a lot of bartenders, there’s a lot of barbers, beauticians, et cetera, in Riverton, and we knew they’d be, you know, forced out of work for a while, so our deal was to make sure all their families were fed through the duration of the coronavirus,” Brown said.

By Brown’s estimate, the Riverton blessing box has so far provided those in need with hundreds of food items, like milk and eggs, every week.

Brown said anywhere from 60 to 100 families are using the box on a daily basis. He’s personally purchased over $1000 worth of food and supplies to donate to the box.

“We hand out milk, eggs, produce, lettuce, and some days sack lunches,” Brown said. “The local schools serve them on Monday, and if they have extra, they drop them off to us, and I get to serve them through the window.”

Brown said locals have donated money to the Kiwanis Club so members can purchase groceries to donate. However, he said most donations from the community come in the form of food itself.

“As much as I’m giving away at the window, people are bringing to me to give away,” Brown said.

Brown also runs a Facebook group called Talk Riverton. It currently has 6,000 members. Regular updates about the box can be found there.

Mike Smith is a graduate Public Affairs Reporting intern for the spring 2020 legislative session.
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