Last year, during the Thanksgiving holiday season, Americans Helping Americans® continued to respond to both immediate hardship and the long-term conditions that keep Appalachian families in poverty.
To that end, Americans Helping Americans® provided hundreds of turkeys to our partners for distribution to low-income families they serve to ensure that they can celebrate the uniquely American tradition of enjoying a festive Thanksgiving meal without breaking their already limited grocery budget for the entire week.
For example, in Tazewell County, Virginia, our partner there, Labor of Love Mission (LOLM), continued its 23-year tradition of assisting families in need during Thanksgiving, and thanks to the supporters of Americans Helping Americans®, LOLM’s Thanksgiving distribution provided turkeys and fixings to 929 people.
This year, Americans Helping Americans® has awarded LOLM a $6,500 grant for holiday food, which includes providing families with turkeys for Thanksgiving.
Last year, our partner in Beattyville, Kentucky, Cumberland Mountain Outreach (CMO), distributed $25 gift certificates to hundreds in its service area of Lee County to enable them to purchase a turkey at a local supermarket.
CMO president and CEO Cynthia Evanoff, reported that with grant funding totaling $9,000 from Americans Helping Americans®, they provided the gift certificates to 360 local low-income families and elderly residents which were redeemed at the local IGA supermarket.
Cynthia explained, “This grant was needed to help families that are struggling financially in this festive time of year.
“When a family has to choose between food on the table and electricity or gas for their car to get to work, it’s usually the food that suffers, thus the children.”
Cynthia commented, “Many of our senior citizens are trying to survive on $500 Social Security a month, after their insurance is taken out.”
She also added that “Americans Helping Americans® has been providing holiday foods for the people of Lee County for many years, and we are so very thankful for you and all that you are doing to better the lives of people.”
And to the supporters of Americans Helping Americans® who make the turkey distribution possible, Cynthia wants them to know, “The programs you fund through Americans Helping Americans® are not only bettering the lives of the recipients here in Appalachia but also blesses our hearts to have somebody stand alongside us.”
For this holiday season, Americans Helping Americans® is awarding CMO grants totaling $14,000 for holiday meals, including providing 400 $30 gift certificates for Thanksgiving turkeys.
“With the high cost of living this year, it is going to be even harder to put food on the table,” commented Cynthia, adding, “because it is already hard.”
In McDowell County, West Virginia, Dyanne Spriggs, executive director of our partner, Big Creek People in Action (BCPIA) reported following last year’s holiday celebrations that they hosted a drive-through giveaway for families in their community, providing a turkey and all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal, serving 200 families representing 551 individuals.
For this year, Americans Helping Americans® is awarding $4,000 to BCPIA in support of its holiday food program.
“The funding will be used to purchase turkeys or hams and other food to give families for their holiday dinner,” reported Dyanne.
Last year, in Gainesville, Georgia, LAMP Ministries used grant funding from Americans Helping Americans® to prepare Thanksgiving meals for low-income families and individuals experiencing homelessness, serving nearly 1,000 people.
“There is so much to say about this grant,” reported programs director Wendy Franklin. “So many people are being touched and helped through this grant.
“We reach the whole community from children, elderly, veterans and adults in any situations in life.
“People receive food, assistance to survive another day, help with their children, etc.
“In this day and time people just need a little help to keep them from going under.”
For this holiday season, Americans Helping Americans® is awarding LAMP $6,500 to provide “Thanksgiving dinner for people who otherwise would not have a holiday meal, and likely not any meal that day,” said Wendy, who expects to serve meals to as many as 1,500 people this year.
Americans Helping Americans® executive director Cameron Krizek notes that “Since its inception, Americans Helping Americans® has been about providing direct aid to people in need.
“It has been a lifeline for so many in their darkest times.
“Our partners tell us their needs and how they can address them and we deliver.
“Right now, they are telling us people are hungry.”
