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Highlands kicks off holiday celebration with food drive
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| Highlands Chamber member and volunteer Staci Neathery sorts through decorative boxes filled with various food products during the first day of the chamber’s Thanksgiving food drive, Nov. 24. This year over 70 families were provided with Thanksgiving meals courtesy of donations from businesses and organizations throughout the community. |
By JOSH HARDWICK
With the holidays now at the doorstep, members of the Highlands community are working overtime to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy them to their fullest.
All this week members of the Highlands-Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce distributed boxes of Thanksgiving meals to more than 70 families falling on tough financial times.
In October students from Bonnie P. Hopper Primary School, Highlands Elementary School joined Scouts from Cub Scout Pack 107 in collecting food for the Thanksgiving giveaway.
These children were joined by representatives from Food Town, Fabian’s Meat Market, Sterling-White Funeral Home, Sampson Masonic Lodge 231 and the Highlands Rotary and Pilot clubs in an effort to ensure that all local families have a meal to gather around this Thanksgiving.
Hopper students also decorated the boxes used to distribute the meals with Thanksgiving motifs as part of the 7-year-old food drive. The event has seen substantial growth over years, especially in the wake of Hurricane Ike, said chamber President Jessica Woods.
“This is our first year to serve 70 families when we have been getting only 50 or 60 before. We thought that because of Ike we would have more families who were in a position of need this year, so we reached out to the community and the response has been great,” she said.
Members of the Highlands Church of Christ donated money used to purchase 70 turkeys, one for each family, while other organizations donated hundreds of pounds of canned goods, fresh bread, drinks and other items.
Fabian’s Meat Market in Highlands offered to store the turkeys in freezers throughout the week, allowing recipients to pick up their birds at their own convenience.
“These boxes have everything in them – turkey, dressing, hot chocolate – anything they would need for a Thanksgiving dinner and then some,” said volunteer Staci Neathery.
Having served boxes to about 25 families on the first day of the food drive Monday, Neathery said she was surprised to see how patient – and especially appreciative – people were to have this kind of help for the holidays.
“It makes you feel really good when people are so thankful. We even had a few people walk up and just tell us that they needed help, so we gave them a box. It’s no questions asked,” she said.
Chamber members said their food drive is unique in that many of the students who participated in the decoration of the boxes and the collection of food come from families who needed help in the past, which Woods said fits the spirit of the holiday well.
“They are able to give back to the community that has helped them,” she said.
As a stay-at-home mother of four and a volunteer at Hopper Elementary, Brandi Gonzales has watched students decorate their Thanksgiving food drive boxes for many years while her own family celebrated the holiday with her husband’s family.
However, her father-in-law died in October and her husband had to leave work for several weeks to help his family.
Coming on the heels of Hurricane Ike, this one-income family suddenly found itself very far behind in bill payments with Thanksgiving just around the corner.
“That put a big damper on our financial plans. When you only have one source of income even just a few weeks off hurts a lot,” she said.
The chamber pitched in and helped the Gonzales family with a meal box of their own – an act of kindness that Brandi said moved her deeply.
“I’ve seen the hard work they put into making these boxes, so when we were able to receive one ourselves it was just wonderful,” she said.
Meanwhile, holiday celebrations will continue next week with the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, Dec. 2 in Highlands’ Heritage Park.
The public is invited to come out and take part in what the chamber is calling a Parade of Trees, a series of Christmas trees purchased and decorated by various businesses and organizations in the community.
Children can have their pictures taken with Santa Claus starting at 6 p.m. Music will be provided courtesy of the Highlands Elementary Show Choir and the Highlands Junior School Band.
For more information about upcoming holiday celebrations, contact the chamber office at 281-426-7227.
All this week members of the Highlands-Lynchburg Chamber of Commerce distributed boxes of Thanksgiving meals to more than 70 families falling on tough financial times.
In October students from Bonnie P. Hopper Primary School, Highlands Elementary School joined Scouts from Cub Scout Pack 107 in collecting food for the Thanksgiving giveaway.
These children were joined by representatives from Food Town, Fabian’s Meat Market, Sterling-White Funeral Home, Sampson Masonic Lodge 231 and the Highlands Rotary and Pilot clubs in an effort to ensure that all local families have a meal to gather around this Thanksgiving.
Hopper students also decorated the boxes used to distribute the meals with Thanksgiving motifs as part of the 7-year-old food drive. The event has seen substantial growth over years, especially in the wake of Hurricane Ike, said chamber President Jessica Woods.
“This is our first year to serve 70 families when we have been getting only 50 or 60 before. We thought that because of Ike we would have more families who were in a position of need this year, so we reached out to the community and the response has been great,” she said.
Members of the Highlands Church of Christ donated money used to purchase 70 turkeys, one for each family, while other organizations donated hundreds of pounds of canned goods, fresh bread, drinks and other items.
Fabian’s Meat Market in Highlands offered to store the turkeys in freezers throughout the week, allowing recipients to pick up their birds at their own convenience.
“These boxes have everything in them – turkey, dressing, hot chocolate – anything they would need for a Thanksgiving dinner and then some,” said volunteer Staci Neathery.
Having served boxes to about 25 families on the first day of the food drive Monday, Neathery said she was surprised to see how patient – and especially appreciative – people were to have this kind of help for the holidays.
“It makes you feel really good when people are so thankful. We even had a few people walk up and just tell us that they needed help, so we gave them a box. It’s no questions asked,” she said.
Chamber members said their food drive is unique in that many of the students who participated in the decoration of the boxes and the collection of food come from families who needed help in the past, which Woods said fits the spirit of the holiday well.
“They are able to give back to the community that has helped them,” she said.
As a stay-at-home mother of four and a volunteer at Hopper Elementary, Brandi Gonzales has watched students decorate their Thanksgiving food drive boxes for many years while her own family celebrated the holiday with her husband’s family.
However, her father-in-law died in October and her husband had to leave work for several weeks to help his family.
Coming on the heels of Hurricane Ike, this one-income family suddenly found itself very far behind in bill payments with Thanksgiving just around the corner.
“That put a big damper on our financial plans. When you only have one source of income even just a few weeks off hurts a lot,” she said.
The chamber pitched in and helped the Gonzales family with a meal box of their own – an act of kindness that Brandi said moved her deeply.
“I’ve seen the hard work they put into making these boxes, so when we were able to receive one ourselves it was just wonderful,” she said.
Meanwhile, holiday celebrations will continue next week with the annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, Dec. 2 in Highlands’ Heritage Park.
The public is invited to come out and take part in what the chamber is calling a Parade of Trees, a series of Christmas trees purchased and decorated by various businesses and organizations in the community.
Children can have their pictures taken with Santa Claus starting at 6 p.m. Music will be provided courtesy of the Highlands Elementary Show Choir and the Highlands Junior School Band.
For more information about upcoming holiday celebrations, contact the chamber office at 281-426-7227.
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