PARKERSBURG - Area churches, food pantries and Rotary Club members are partnering this holiday season to bring turkey dinners to residents in need.
The Good Shepherd Episcopal Church on Friday received 100 frozen turkeys to distribute to area residents and food pantries. The turkeys are part of 300 to be distributed throughout Parkersburg by churches, community organizations and food pantries.
Linda Crocker, parish ministries coordinator for the church, said local Rotarians raised about $10,000 of $50,000 raised through a partnership with Rotary districts within West Virginia and even other parts of the world. The program purchased and is distributing about 2,200 frozen turkeys throughout the state.
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Photo by Michael Erb
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church Rector Majorie Bevins, left, and parish ministries coordinator Linda Crocker, right, hold up frozen turkeys to be distributed to area families in need. The turkeys were purchased through donations by area, state and international Rotary Clubs.
"This is the second year the Rotary has done this, but the first year it has come to Wood County," Crocker said.
The timing couldn't be better, she said. The church's food pantry has seen record levels of need in recent months.
"The need is really up. We've been struggling to keep the food pantry stocked," she said.
In some cases the people who are making donations to the food pantry are the same people who are in need of help, she said.
Majorie Bevins, rector for the church, said she has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the community and the support of area Rotarians.
"I'm just amazed," she said. "The generosity from such a wide area to make this possible, it's just amazing.
"The people in the neighborhood really appreciate what we are doing here," said Crocker, "and it's just a confirmation of what we are doing."
The turkeys also are being distributed through food pantries at The Rock Full Gospel Church and Beechwood Presbyterian Church in Parkersburg.
