Annual fundraiser honors the late Sam Galloway Jr

The 18th annual Sam Galloway Jr. and Friends Soup Kitchen was held Thursday and honored the legacy of the late Sam Galloway Jr., the Southwest Florida philanthropist and local businessman.

The event raised $1 million in 2020, and all of the money went toward fighting hunger and homelessness right in Lee County. The amount raised for this year’s even was not yet confirmed Thursday.

Galloway died this past March. He was 76 years old.

Galloway was one of the founding members of the group, Community Cooperative, which hosts the annual fundraiser.

With more than 700 supporters from the community at the event, organizers said it shows how Galloway’s legacy will live forever.

“Mr. Galloway was an incredible, generous individual in our community who did more things to support Southwest Florida, more than most of us will ever know,” said Stefanie Edwards, the chief development and operating officer of Community Cooperative. “We’re really grateful that we get to carry the legacy forward of this event in particular for who knows how long, hopefully years and years, a hundred years to come.”

Last year, the group was able to help thousands of men, women and children who were struggling in our area with hunger and homelessness.