Under the leadership of Dick and Mark Shinstrom, the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland had another successful effort and provided hundreds of special kids with nutritious sack lunches for the Special Olympics King County 2013 Regional basketball tournament held in Issaquah on Feb. 10.

Nearly 30 Kiwanian’s plus a number of spouses showed up ready to work that morning to help along the assembly line. More than 850 sack lunches were prepared in less than 90 minutes. Tim’s Cascade Chip’s were donated, while apples and paper supplies were supplied at no charge by Kirkland Parkplace

QFC. The Kiwanis club purchased the remainder of the meats, bread and cheese for the lunches.

The Kirkland Middle School Builders Club decorated the individual lunch bags for the athletes. The kids from KMS got creative as they had fun helping out with this project.

Kiwanis Club of Kirkland routinely provides meal support for Special Olympics and thanks to the generosity of Eastside businesses, the club has been doing this for 10 years, and plans to keep this an ongoing activity. If you would like more information about Special Olympics, visit http://www.specialolympicswashington.org.

A volunteer organization, the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland, along with their affiliate organization, the Kirkland Kiwanis Foundation, benefits the Kirkland community in a variety of ways, including academic scholarships, the Bill Petter Memorial Scholarship in transportation technology, assistance with orthodontic care through the Keller Memorial Fund, middle and high school leadership programs, school supplies to disadvantaged children, supporting KITH, Eastside Baby Corner and much more.

For more information, visit kirkland.kiwanis.org, or contact club secretary Matt Gregory at (425) 828-0231. Kiwanis lunch meetings are held at noon on Wednesdays at the Crab Cracker in Kirkland.