Steve Smith, Sam Galloway and Jim King

FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 11, 2013) – Sam Galloway Jr. & Friends 10th Annual Soup Kitchen Benefit held Tuesday, March 5, at the Sam Galloway Ford dealership located off Boy Scout Drive raised more than $360,000 for the local homeless and hungry.

The event sold out with more than 575 guests attending to help raise needed funds for Community Cooperative Ministries Inc., the umbrella agency for the Everyday Cafés and Marketplaces, Meals on Wheels, Community Montessori Preschool and Social and Homeless Services. Each year, local restaurants, companies and individuals donate the southern-style menu including barbeque chicken and pork, fried chicken, coleslaw, fried shrimp, cheese grits, swamp cabbage, gourmet meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gumbo, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, fresh green beans, corn bread, homemade cookies and gourmet chocolates.

The goal of this annual event is to raise as much money as possible for local residents in need.

“This is our 10th year of dear friends and businesses joining together to help those less fortunate in our community,” said Sam Galloway, Jr. “I wish we didn’t have to hold this event any longer and that hunger was not an issue in our community. Unfortunately, it still is a serious problem. More of our neighbors and their children are going to need our help, and I plan to help them.”

Galloway wants to ensure that CCMI can continue helping Lee County’s growing population of hungry gain access to nutritious meals. Ten years ago, he gathered friends in the local restaurant community and beyond to donate their time and services toward a community fundraiser for local homeless and hungry. The event has grown each year with guests who come together for one evening in the Service Department of Galloway Ford. All the monies raised go directly to CCMI to help those in need in Lee County.

CCMI is an innovative nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization made up of social service entrepreneurs fighting to end homelessness and hunger in our community. The agency provides more than 15,000 meals each month through their Everyday Cafes and Marketplaces and Meals on Wheels programs. CCMI also educates 40 children in their Community Montessori, offers homeless and comprehensive case coaching services through their United Way Resource Houses, oversees an emergency mobile food pantry and supplies weekend backpacks full of food to more than 2,500 children each school year.

CCMI serves Fort Myers and the greater Lee County area, including Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres. CCMI works in partnership with United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades, Harry Chapin Food Bank and various community foundations as well as collaborating with fellow community and service groups including The School District of Lee County and numerous churches, businesses and community support organizations.

For more information, call 239-332-7687 or visit www.ccmileecounty.com.

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