- A group of veterans in Valdosta has been running a toy and food giveaway for over 30 years.
- In its 30 year history, the group has helped support more than 9,000 families.
- Watch the video to see how these veterans are inspiring others in Valdosta to get involved in their communities.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
Natalie Smith is inspired to give back to her country.
"My father was the first black commander in the state of Florida for the 8 for the VFW: Veterans of Foreign War."
And now she's taken that same passion back to her community in Valdosta, helping give back to underserved kids as their Second Vice Commander and Head of programs.
"I believe that everything is bigger than us. Life is bigger than us. So it's so much better to give back. It's so much so many people out there who may have things less fortunate than I. And so it's important to me to give back. It's important to me to put a smile on somebody's face."
And she and her fellow vets have put smiles on at least 300 families' faces since this past weekend, but that's not all.
Amvets 607 has hosted its essential, toy, and food giveaway for the last 30 years.
In those 30 years, they have helped 9,000 families; a little over 28% of the city of Valdosta lives below the poverty line, Amvet's National Judge Advocate Fred Bates says their efforts have helped many of them.
We don't want families worrying during the holidays. If we can help them, we did good."
Smith tells me their work isn't done; they plan on delivering items to families who can't make it to their club.
In Valdosta, I'm Malia Thomas, reporting for ABC27.
