WS Chronicle

2020 marks the 70th anniversary for Cannon & Company (C&C), a local accounting firm, and they had big plans to celebrate the occasion. But due to the growing pandemic of COVID-19, their plans shifted from celebration to community outreach.

On Saturday, June 27, C&C held a food drive and backpack supply drive to assist students with school supplies and to restock the food pantry at Reynolds High School. The backpack supplies are to be distributed evenly for students at Whitaker, Brunson and Moore Elementary Schools. They also brought out a Shred-It truck for people to come out and have documents shredded that needed to be disposed of in a safe and secure way.

The company initially planned on having a large party to celebrate the occasion, but chose instead to perform seven acts of kindness to celebrate the anniversary. Unfortunately, the coronavirus hit the nation and plans had to change since many of the events planned involved large gatherings of people. The food and backpack supply drive was the first event they could pull off under the current state social distancing guidelines.

Joey Perkins, partner in C&C and Cannon Wealth Management, says his company has been lucky during the pandemic by being able to keep their staff at 100% capacity, but knows not every business has been so lucky.

“We just wanted to do a little bit to try and give back to the community, especially when you look at the number of hungry kids with school being out,” said Perkins. “We are just trying to do our little part to help out with hungry kids and people struggling through all of this.

“It feels good, but at the end of the day we are trying to do all we can to help with kids that are struggling, hungry and wondering what is going to happen in the fall with school, because no one knows what is going to happen at this point.”

Kimberly Stone, C&C marketing and client relations director, one of the key organizers for the event, said after speaking with friends from Reynolds, what they really needed was food for the pantry, which was one of the top priorities for the school. It was her idea to pitch this event to her company and they jumped at the opportunity to help others during this time of need, she said.

“The COVID closedown of the schools meant that they had to make sure the kids still had access to food, so the pantries had gone and given out all of the food they had in stock. So now that we are about to start a new school year, they need to be replenished,” said Stone.

Stone stated since the high school kids are maturing in different ways than elementary school kids, the pantry items they collect will also include hygiene products such as toiletries, shampoo, or soap.

“They actually indulged my sense of giving back and so I get to get out and volunteer at several locations and they all come out and support me,” she said. “I think that for any successful business, you can only be as successful as you’re willing to give back and that is something that we have tried to do, which is being as good to the community as the community has been to us.”

Several members from the Reynolds football team came out to assist with the heavy lifting. Starting quarterback Caden Davis was among the players to volunteer.

“We really wanted to build some team chemistry, while also helping with a good cause of collecting food for those who need it,” said Davis. “It is also a good way of working together since we haven’t had the chance to during the quarantine.

“I just wanted to show my guys that you can come out here for a few hours and help a little bit and just give back. I know there are people at Reynolds that are less fortunate, so I just wanted to be a part of helping those in need.”

Reynolds counselor Amy Williams is one of the individuals who helped establish the Demon pantry at Reynolds.  She says this event will play a major role in helping to restock the pantry in time for the next school year.

“It is a pantry with all kinds of things now,” said Williams. “A student will pick up a bag of food for the weekend for lunch, breakfast and snacks and they can pick up school supplies and toiletries as needed.

During the closure, we have tried to have bags of food available for the students to come by and pick up when they are also getting school meals, or we have made a few deliveries, and I know other schools have done deliveries as well.”

Williams said they had a large amount of donations to the pantry right before the schools closed, but due to social distancing and quarantine, the pantry has not been able to be replenished to capacity.  

“Our pantry runs on donations of food and money, so without an effort like this, we are scrambling to try and get more of what we need.”