TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The 5th annual WTXL Turkey Drive is eight days away, and together with our partners, we're ramping up to make this year's event even bigger than before!
We're bringing back the charity drive where you can donate turkeys or money, to help feed families in need.
WTXL ABC 27's Stephanie Rank is giving you a look at just one of the programs that benefits from your donations during the Turkey Drive, all thanks in-part to Second Harvest of the Big Bend.
"Food security, or hunger, is a big issue in the Big Bend," said Rick Minor, CEO of Second Harvest of The Big Bend. "Hunger is a problem here."
A problem so big that nearly one in six people in the Big Bend is food insecure, some not knowing when or where their next meal will come from. That's where Second Harvest of the Big Bend comes in.
"We distribute this food, this nutritious food to these agency partners of ours, then in turn they will distribute that to the families and individuals that are in need," said Minor.
Second Harvest supplies food to at least 135 partners across the Big Bend area, including Greater Love Church of God.
"We are so blessed to have Second Harvest at our disposal that we can do these things, without them we wouldn't be able to do it," said Janice E. Stanley, coordinator of the Greater Love Food Bank. "We would never be able to serve as many people as we serve without Second Harvest."
Stanley says her food bank feeds about 300 people per month.
Retha Black, who attends the food bank said, "I feel very good, I'm glad they're doing it for the families because I have so many grandchildren."
"It's our mission," said Stanley. "We enjoy serving the people in this community and the surrounding areas."
"These people have been struggling for a long time, even before the hurricane and so to have them have a nice place where they can sit down and be with each other," Minor explained. "It really means a lot to them and that means it means a lot to us."
Proving that a community can truly rally together to fight hunger.
The mission of America's Second Harvest of the Big Bend is to feed the estimated 134,000 hungry people, including 30,000 children, in the Big Bend.
So here's where you come in: In Thursday, November 15, WTXL will broadcast live and online from Ponce DeLeon Park from 5 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
To help us feed our community, go to the store, pick up a turkey or two, and swing through our "drive-thru" where you can roll down your window and drop it off. Don't have time to get a turkey? We'll be taking cash donations as well.
