GILROY
– Thanksgiving is saved.
Thanks to a last-minute flurry of goodwill and generosity,
organizers at the St. Joseph’s Family Center were happy to report
Monday that they’ve received enough donated turkeys to meet their
goals of serving families in need for this week’s holiday
– although they could still use extra help in other areas.
GILROY – Thanksgiving is saved.
Thanks to a last-minute flurry of goodwill and generosity, organizers at the St. Joseph’s Family Center were happy to report Monday that they’ve received enough donated turkeys to meet their goals of serving families in need for this week’s holiday – although they could still use extra help in other areas.
Thanks to a major donation of turkeys last week and more donations flowing in over the weekend, coordinators say they’ll be able to meet and even exceed their goal of 650 turkeys needed for take-home food boxes and a big community dinner this week.
“Things are going really, really well,” said a busy Jacqui Merriman, food distribution coordinator at St. Joseph’s, during a quick break from preparations Monday morning. “We took in donations all weekend long. The community has really responded with the turkeys, and we’re at the goal we set.”
Like many charitable organizations around the Bay Area, St. Joseph’s has been feeling the sting of the “double-whammy” that an economic downturn provided this holiday season. While more people have been coming in need of assistance, the citizenry’s collective belt-tightening meant the organization was also receiving fewer donations to help them.
And things were looking especially bad early last week, when the organization had less than 10 donated turkeys against a goal of 650 needed to serve the annual Thanksgiving meal noon Thursday at St. Mary’s school and fill orders for nearly 600 birds for senior families, those using transitional housing and take-home packages for low-income families.
However, things began looking up late last week when the number jumped to nearly 400 thanks to a large donation by a local business.
And the good news continued over the weekend as the birds and other food items continued to flow in. Dozens of turkeys expected from South Valley Middle School and Bob Lynch Ford pushed the agency over its goal and will enable it to start saving up for Christmas. The agency is plenty able to accommodate more donations: Its freezers can accommodate up to 1,200 gobblers.
“In less than five weeks we’ll need another 600 turkeys,” Merriman said. “It’s kind of like an ongoing ‘I dream of turkeys.’ ”
However, the agency could still use some help this week. St. Joseph’s can still use donations of complementary items such as fresh potatoes, carrots, onions and fruit to help fill out the food boxes this week, as well as more volunteers to help package them up and carry them to recipient families’ cars.
A rash of illnesses have reduced the amount of volunteers lined up to help package the meals to a skeleton crew.
“We have all these little snags to get smoothed out,” she said. “I could use a few extra-strong fellas.”
Meanwhile, the Salvation Army reports it is in good shape for Thanksgiving, thanks in part to the organization’s largest response in recent memory from volunteers and families who take on the responsibility of “adopting” and helping to provide for other families who are more in need.
“We’re pretty well set for Thanksgiving,” said Maj. Gerde Ramos Monday morning while pointing volunteers to fresh coffee as families picked up turkeys, chickens and gift certificates. “But we’re saying, ‘Well, what’s going to happen for Christmas?’ ”
The agency has also benefited from the help and connections of its community advisory council, Ramos said. The nine-member group of citizens makes contacts in the community and helps head up different programs.
“It’s one thing for us to do it all, but when other hands come to help it multiplies our efforts,” she said.
Like St. Joseph’s, the Salvation Army has also seen a large influx of people affected by the economic downturn.
“We’ve had so many people who have come in who are unemployed or on (assistance),” Ramos said. “They’re just scraping through.”
The organization will also host a community dinner Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Gilroy for South County’s homeless and needy. Then all eyes focus on Christmas.
“For Thanksgiving we have food but we’ve emptied our larders, and we start for Christmas again,” she said.
Both Ramos and Merriman were profuse in their gratitude for the help and sharing this season.
“We’d like to give a very big ‘thank you’ to everyone who has helped us with funds and with merchandise or volunteers,” Ramos said.
