Around 150 kids will be given new shoes, Easter candy thanks to community organizer
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RIGBY — With the help of the community and a local woman who organized a project, over 100 children and teens in need will receive new shoes and candy for Easter.
Kori Ellis lives in Rigby and organizes several community service projects throughout the year to help families in need. She is the president of the Giving Cupboard, a food pantry in Rigby but says she does this as a community project and not as part of any organization.
“I do this Easter project. I also do a back-to-school project where we do backpacks and school supplies for kids in need, and I do some other projects around Christmas time to help,” Ellis said.
For the Easter project, with the help of CrossPoint Community Church, Crown of Life, Rigby Hustle Hut and people in the community, Ellis says 150 children and teens will be given new shoes and Easter candy. She said she worked with local school districts like Idaho Falls School District 91 and Jefferson Joint School District 251 to identify kids in need.
“I organize a list of the sizes we need and then community members help by donating candy and shoes, and then I make sure they get to where they need to go,” she explained.
Ellis said she typically posts on Facebook for the projects she’s working on, and she’s never had a problem fulfilling needs.
“If people want to help, then they just contact me. I tell them what I need, and then they pitch in,” Ellis said. “Our community is extremely generous.”
She has been doing projects like this for seven to eight years. Hundreds of kids have been helped.
“For me personally, I just think that if you have the means, you should try to help the people around you,” Ellis said.
She said she began doing it because she used to be an outreach coordinator at a previous church where she was in charge of service projects.
“I think everybody goes through a time in their life when they struggle. It’s not anything to be ashamed of or anything if you are just going through a time when you need a little help,” she said. “With the last year or so, with the cost of food going up, and inflation and all those kinds of things, there’s people that just fall a little bit short.”
Ellis is always grateful for the help and puts it simply. She is the organizer, and everything else is the community.
“It’s truly a community effort. I think that’s how it should be … that we are all helping the people that are our neighbors, the people that are our community members and our businesses. That’s how you help your community thrive is to try and lift everybody up around you,” she said.
If you are interested in helping with projects, Ellis says you can text her at (208) 557-9089.
