Young Davin Alves of Marion is once again organizing and executing a fundraiser aimed at supporting local food banks. His annual initiative, now in its fourth year, has not only brought joy to many families during the festive period, but also highlighted the power of youth-led community service and kindness. The first year Davin hosted a fundraiser, he and the program raised a little over $900. The second year, they raised over $3,000, and last year, they raised around $5,800.
The funds are used to support local food banks and charities. This year United Way of Greater New Bedford and Damien’s Place Food Pantry in Wareham are the recipient groups. Last year, nearly 38 shopping-carts-worth of food were gathered. With surges towards Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit collections following the recent government shutdown, the demand on local charities is higher than average.
Kathylee Alves, Davin’s mom, said: “My son Davin came to my husband and I three years ago and asked us if we could help him come up with an idea to help raise money to help those in need over the holiday season because he didn’t want anyone to go without food. Together we came up with an idea for a holiday raffle. We purchase items and/or businesses donate items, which we raffle off by selling tickets. Then we post the raffle live on Facebook.”
If you would like to learn more about Davin’s food drive and raffle, you can visit Kathylee Alves’ Facebook page: www.facebook.com/kathylee.alves. Donations are in the form of raffle tickets. Items visible on Kathylee’s Facebook page starting December 6 will be raffled off on December 17 at 5:00 pm. One hundred percent of the donations go to the aforementioned charity organizations. Interested sponsors can reach out to Kathylee at 508-951-8272 or brinx1@verizon.net.
Davin Alves’ 2025 Raffle
By Sam Bishop