<strong>By Bob Sofaly</strong>

The Gullah Geechee Initiative Foundation collected and gave away to anyone in need more than 200 bags of non-perishable food and 150 boxes full of fresh fruit and vegetables on Friday, June 19 at Martin Luther King Memorial Park on St. Helena Island.

The event, part of the Bags To Go Emergency Assistance Food project, was held on Friday to coincide with the Juneteenth observance. All the food was collected or grown locally, according to founder Kama’l Mandela Wigfall.

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Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United&nbsp;States, dating back to June 19, 1865.

The Gullah Geechee Initiative Foundation, Inc. (GGIF) is a non-profit organization established in 2019 exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, more specifically to provide services and programs for young people who live primarily on St. Helena Island.

According to its website, “GGIF believes in creating programs for youth, regardless of their circumstances, that will inspire them to reach their full potential, by giving them choices beyond gangs, drugs, and crime through advocacy, education, resources, training, development, and sports.”

“Our mission for this particular project was to help combat the problem of hunger in the St. Helena Island community during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wigfall said in an email to The Island News.

In addition to food, the Foundation distributed dental care products and voter registration forms.

“Singlehandedly we could never do this important work alone,” Wigfall said. “I would like to give a special thanks to Community Resource Center North Charleston, Simba League, SCESMM, Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce, S.C. DHEC, Walmart Nos. 7181 and 1383, Marshview Community Organic Farm, Girl Scouts Troop 4105, and the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration &amp; Elections.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;

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<em>Above: The Gullah Geechee Initiative Foundation collected and gave away to anyone in need 200 bags of non-perishable food and 150 boxes full of fresh fruit and vegetables on Friday at Martin Luther King Memorial Park on St. Helena Island. The event, part of the Bags To Go Emergency Assistance Food project, was held on Friday to coincide with Juneteenth.</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"><em>&nbsp;</em>
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<em>Volunteer Brandan Jackson helps sort out some of the boxes of perishable fruit and vegetables to be given away to anyone in need.</em>

<em>Photos by Bob Sofaly</em>

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