Be a Lifesaver program resumes at Battlefield Park 

The Battle of Richmond Visitors Center kicked off its latest charity initiative this week with the "Be a Lifesaver with the Battle of Richmond" event.

The visitors center is asking the public for donations of Lifesaver candy which will be packed into care packages and sent to military personnel.

From the first of March through the end of April, the staff at Battlefield Park will be accepting donations of Lifesaver candies. They can be dropped off or sent to the Battle of Richmond Visitors Center, which is located at 101 Battlefield Memorial Highway, Richmond. The visitors center's hours or operation are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., donated Lifesavers can be left on the porch as well.

Organizers request candies donated be individually-wrapped and that anyone donating provide their name and address alongside the Lifesavers.

Battlefield Park Curator Phillip Seyfrit likes to come up with ways to help people. The Lifesaver drive came about during the ice storms which rocked Kentucky in the winter of 2021.

"Nobody was doing anything anywhere. We got to fiddling around and this military mission group out of Lexington that we have worked with put out a plea for items as part of a drive they do about four times a year," Seyfrit said.

Seyfrit said the group wanted individually-wrapped Lifesavers as part of their care packages, something he felt could be easily provided. In the Lifesaver program's first year, 55,000 of the individually wrapped candies were collected by Battlefield Park and donated to the troops.

Donations to "Be a Lifesaver" are also encouraged to people outside of the county as well. The Wild Cherry flavored Lifesavers have been requested of potential donors who live outside of the area. According to the staff at Battlefield Park, that flavor of the candy is harder to come by in this part of the state.

According to Seyfrit, the first batch of Lifesavers donated in the 2022 program came from a 99-year-old World War II Marine Corps veteran.