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November 20, 2001 Donations fill boxes, hearts for Thanksgiving meals
Visalia Times-Delta Time is running out, but Capt. Ezekiel Guevara of the Salvation Army in Visalia says compassion seems to be running high. As Thanksgiving nears, Tulare County relief agencies are working to make sure those in need have a warm meal to sit down to. But Guevara said donations seemed to have taken care of themselves this year as people throughout the community have donated time and supplies for Thanksgiving meals. "The response from the community has been unbelievable," said Guevara, who along with volunteers will today begin distributing food baskets, including turkeys, to nearly 300 needy families at the Salvation Army. "There have been a lot of layoffs, people have lost their jobs and if they don't get help they might not have a good holiday. This year it looks like there are going to be a lot of smiles though." The Visalia Salvation Army is just one of a handful of Tulare County r! elief agencies that are taking stock of donations to prepare food baskets for those in need, while others get set to prepare Thanksgiving meals. Sister Kenneth Quinn, director of the Good News Center, that will cook up and serve its annual Thanksgiving Dinner Thursday for those in need, said community support has always been in surplus. "Volunteers have to call very early to get on the list because there are just so many," said Quinn. The center estimates it will serve between 300 to 500 meals on Thanksgiving. "It's not an unusual thing to get so many volunteers especially here in the city of Visalia. I've never lived in a place where people were so willing to give." Visalia Emergency Aid Council's goal this year is to provide turkeys and food baskets to 800 families, said Sylvia Riordon, project coordinator. So far the agency has collected enough turkeys for nearly 600 families, while others have been placed on a waiting list. "We're still running a little short and I'm not exactly sure why that is," said Riordon, who like other agencies has faced struggles as donations slowed earlier this year when local residents focused on helping out relief efforts in New York. "Maybe people don't have the funds to be able to give as much as they want to, but we're still hoping that won't be the case here for Thanksgiving." The Salvation Army was in a similar predicament earlier this holiday season, but received help from the Pipkin Detective Agency. The detective agency, based in Visalia and Fresno, put away official business for six hours last week and raised enough donations from its south Valley clients to provide 250 turkeys to the Salvation Army. "We decided that rather than just sitting around and hoping others would lend a hand, we'd make sure something was done," said Rocky Pipkin, an owner of the agency. "I was pleasantly surprised at how the community stepped up to the plate to help, but then again Visalia's a very together and a giving community." |
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