A group of Ohio University students who fed 30 local families last Thanksgiving have raised the bar, aiming to fill the bellies of 50 families this Turkey Day.
The OU Student Social Work Association has been fundraising since the beginning of the semester to provide local families in need with a full Thanksgiving dinner. The group fed 10 families in 2010 and 30 families last year.
Turkey Day is still a month away, but the organization has more money to raise, said John Wambui, the group’s president and a graduate student studying social work. It has raised $1,379, with a goal of $2,800 in addition to food donations.
The group has held bake sales and a pie-throwing contest, sold T-shirts and received food, said Judi Haberkorn, visiting associate professor of social and public health and the group’s faculty adviser.
“We also have a web page set up where we ask people to donate a dollar or two,” she said. “That all goes directly towards feeding local families a full Thanksgiving dinner.”
The meal includes fresh vegetables, cranberry sauce, turkey, stuffing, piecrust mold and filling, and milk, Haberkorn said.
The group partners with local food providers for the meal and with the Tri-County Mental Health Services in Belpre to find families in need, she said, adding that Save A Lot, 910 E. State St., has been “incredibly generous” with supplying food.
Families are chosen based on number of children and “need level,” said Helen McGrail, Belpre clinic director of the Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services.
“We definitely have 50 families that we could provide them with,” McGrail said.
“Many of the families who come to our clinic are multi-child families.”
Another goal of the fundraiser is to educate the community, Wambui said.
“It is called Thanksgiving, a time to give thanks and praise to God and to share a meal as one family before God,” Wambui said. “We believe in love and the goodness of humanity.”
McGrail said the Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services cares for the people they provide services to.
“I think the holidays, for people who are distressed and have mental health or financial issues — those times become more desperate times,” she said. “The rest of the community is celebrating, so this gives them a chance to enjoy holidays just like other families.”
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