DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – A local nonprofit distributed 10,000 pounds of food to around 200 families Saturday, the latest community effort by an organization founded to honor two teenagers killed in a reckless driving crash.
Forever 17 was started by the families of Chloe Lucas and Kennedy Elskamp, who died in July 2022 as passengers in a car that crashed into a ditch traveling nearly 150 miles per hour. The nonprofit has been operating for three and a half years.
Tess Lucas, Chloe’s stepmother and one of Forever 17’s founders, said the organization originally launched to raise awareness about the dangers of reckless driving. Since then, the families have expanded their efforts to find additional ways to make a difference.
“We didn’t quite know what we were going to do but we needed to do something to prevent another family from going through what we went through,” Tess Lucas said.
Lucas said a temporary stoppage of SNAP benefits signaled to the organization that a food giveaway was needed.
“That was our tip-off, when the SNAP benefits had temporarily stopped, that’s when we really said, okay, we can do something, let’s do what we can to help,” she said.
Lucas said events like Saturday’s distribution keep the memory of the two teens present in the community.
“When we do things like this and we do things in their names, it means that people are continuing to talk about them, they’re not forgotten,” she said.
“We’re continuing to build their legacy although they are not here to do it themselves,” Lucas said.
Forever 17 plans to sponsor additional food giveaways in the future.
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