SARASOTA (WSNN) – Hundreds of families who are struggling on the Suncoast are going to have a turkey on the dinner table for Thanksgiving. And it’s thanks to the Safe Children Coalition and it’s annual Turkey Drive-Thru.
“I’m really grateful for it. I’m a single mom, I work at Goodwill and so money is still tight,so it’s been a blessing,” Sarasota Resident receiving a turkey dinner, Kelly Wolff said.
Safe Children Children distributed about 700 turkey dinners to Sarasota and Manatee families going through financial hardships.
It’s HIPPY or Home Instruction for Parents who Preschool Youngsters and Achievers program volunteers helped make it all possible. Director, Jone Williams has been leading this turkey drive-thru for more than 20 years.
“We started out with five to six, not sure how many, but a very small amount at the beginning, but it’s grown to over 700 now,” Williams said.
Attorney volunteer Dan Dannheisser helped raise about 40,000 dollars to buy turkey dinners from Publix. It includes a cooked turkey, four sides and a big pie.
Dannheisser says it’s not only about helping families have a thanksgiving dinner, but also about the 50 young volunteers from the shelter and the Achievers program.
“It’s a big deal to me to be able to help kids be put in a position to get the experience of making a difference for somebody else,” Dannheisser said. “A lot of these kids haven’t been in a position in their lives to be a person that contributed to making a difference. A lot of them have been in economically dependent positions where they depended on somebody else.”
“I wasn’t blessed on having a lot of good stuff,” Achiever alumni, Cortnei Allen said. “Growing up with a single mom, you learn that you’re the only guy in the house, so you gotta take care. So I’ve been taking care of my momma, my two sisters all my life, so I feel like I’m an older brother to everybody, I gotta help everybody.”
The Achievers program is about helping middle and high school students in Sarasota County prepare for life after high school with college readiness, career prep, or job prep.
“Just being able to help give back especially around the holidays, money is tight, so I just like helping out in the best way I know how,” Achiever alumni, Jelani Mays said.
“It’s a great feeling to know that there’s a lot of people that we’re actually giving back to and for them willing to accept it; it feels good,” Achiever alumni, Joshua Gilbert said.
Families say it gives them hope during this really tough time.
“We’re all extremely grateful, especially this year, because of how the situation has been,” Sarasota Resident receiving a turkey dinner, Itzl Hernandez said.
