AccelAbility Physical Therapy is hosting a food drive to benefit Backpack Buddies for the upcoming holiday. Backpack Buddies is a local non-profit dedicated to fighting childhood hunger in St. Clair County schools, Pell City schools, and Leeds City schools. An estimated 5,000 children in St. Clair County are food insecure, meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from. For many, their school lunch is the only meal they consistently receive. This non-profit works with school counselors and staff to identify children who are food insecure and provide them with nutritious and easy-to-prepare food they can take home every Friday (currently serving more than 630 students from grades k5 -12). Suggested items include: Pop-top meals, 100 percent juice boxes, granola bars, applesauce, fruit cups, oatmeal and grits packets, Cheerios cups, cheese & peanut butter crackers, mini pop-top veggie cans, mac-n-cheese cups or packets, fruit snacks & pudding cups and even full size hygiene products including shampoo, toothbrush/paste, deodorant, etc. Please stop by AccelAbility Physical Therapy located behind Milo’s and Wendy’s at 200 Village Drive, Suite 2 in Leeds to leave your donation. Any items donated that are not on Backpack Buddies list will be given to local food banks.

The Moody Area Chamber of Commerce High School Ambassadors toured St. Clair Animal Hospital recently. This is just one of the local businesses that these students will have the opportunity to tour during this school year to provide them with information about career opportunities right here in the greater Moody and Leeds areas and educational requirements for those careers as they plan their future.

Awake My Soul Art Studio held a ribbon cutting last week with the City of Leeds and Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce. If you haven’t stopped in, their business is located on 9th Street in downtown Leeds.

The Leeds Community Chorus and combined church choirs performed at the Leeds Arts Council’s Holiday Concert in November. Participating choirs included Leeds Presbyterian Choir, The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Leeds AOH Church of God, Little Rock Baptist, Leeds First United Methodist Praise 365 and Leeds First United Methodist Church Choir.

Please remember to submit nominations for Leeds Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year & Non-Profit of the Year awards which will be presented at the Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce December Awards Luncheon. Deadline is Dec. 1. All nominations should be no more than one typed page and submitted to Sandra McGuire, Executive Director, at Sandra@LeedsAreaChamber.com. You do not have to sign your name on the nomination. It is not disclosed who writes the letters. Criteria and nomination instructions are on their website at LeedsAreaChamber.com.

Leeds Lions Club will meet at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 1 in the Leeds Masonic Lodge building. Please contact T.V. Weaver, President, at (205) 699-6742 for more information.

The Moody Fire Department has provided Christmas toys to children of families that are going through a difficult time for more than 30 years. They work very hard each year to make sure that each child has their Christmas wish fulfilled. Mayor Joe Lee will host their 8th Annual Toys for Kids Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. this Friday, Dec. 2 at Moody Civic Center which is the only fundraising event for the Toys for Kids program. During this event, guests will be served by celebrity waiters, enjoy entertainment, door prizes and an auction. Tickets for this event are $10 and tips will be accepted. All proceeds go to the Toys for Kids program. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact Melissa Fraser at (205) 640-0307.

Leeds Masonic Lodge Community Breakfast is scheduled for 8 a.m. this Saturday, Dec. 3. Breakfast is free, but donations would be appreciated. Please contact T. V. Weaver for more information at (205) 699-6742.

Please remember to mark your calendar to see the Santa Collection this Sunday, Dec. 4 at the home of Kathye Drake. Kathye has been known as the Santa Claus Lady for many years here in Leeds. She and her late husband, Owen, have collected thousands of Santa and opened their home numerous times for Santa viewing. Her beautiful Santas in all shapes and sizes will be on display for the last time during the month of December at 1008 Kings Forest Drive. This Sunday, Dec. 4, she will accept donations as a fundraiser for the Leeds Fire Department. For more information, please contact Kathye at (205) 699-6655.

Please don’t forget to register for Leeds and Moody Christmas Parades. There is no charge to participate in either parade, but registration is necessary. Leeds Christmas Parade will be held on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. Download application at LeedsAreaChamber.com. Moody Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. For more information, please contact Melissa Fraser at (205) 640-0307 or download application at moodyalchamber.com.

Leeds City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 5 at Leeds Civic Center meeting room.

Moody Lions Club is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 5 at White’s Chapel.

Moody Area Chamber of Commerce Corporate Liaison Group will meet at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Moody City Hall conference room upstairs. If you are interested in working on chamber and community projects, please plan to attend.

Moody Kiwanis Club will meet at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Moody City Hall.

Leeds Redevelopment Authority is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Leeds Civic Center meeting room.

Eden Westside Baptist Church Leeds River Campus will present ADORE Christmas Songs for Worship at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7. There is no charge for this event. For more information, please visit their website at EdenWestside.org.

Moody Area Chamber of Commerce will host their luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8 at Moody City Hall. This month’s event will include Christmas entertainment. Lunch is $10 with RSVP to Andrea Machen, Executive Director, at (205) 640-6262.

Driven with a Purpose Car, Truck & Bike Show to benefit Toys for Tots is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the Leeds Commons Shopping Center, across from First Baptist Church at 7480 Parkway Drive and is brought to you by the Central Alabama Mustang Society, Project Southeast, and Unorthodox Creations Custom Car & Truck Club. All proceeds go to Toys for Tots. Event will include 50/50 and Raffle Prizes and Top 25 Awards. Entry Fee: $10 or New Unwrapped Toy. Sponsors include Sears Hometown Store Leeds, Right Stuff Bargain Center, Daylight Donuts, Workout Anytime, Farmers Home Furniture and Rusty’s Bar-B-Q. If you would like to make a donation prior to the event, these retailers in the Leeds Commons Shopping Center are set up to receive your monetary or toy gift. Make checks payable to Toys for Tots. They are also accepting auction items and door prizes to be given away the day of the event. Please come out and attend this exciting event on Dec. 10.

Job Openings: Sears Hometown Store Leeds, Jack’s Leeds and Zaxby’s are all hiring.

Quote for the Week: “What if everything you’re going through right now is preparing you for a dream bigger than you can imagine.” – Unknown.

I truly appreciate each of you who read my column and I really love sharing news. so please remember to send your Leeds and Moody news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com. See you next week!