With November here and Thanksgiving quickly approaching, Wrangell Ministerial Association (WMA) is seeking support for its annual distribution of traditional dinner baskets.
“This will be the twelfth year,” said Don Roher, who with his wife, Bonnie, organize the project.
Their Thanksgiving Basket drive puts together holiday meals for community members that might need them. An ecumenical coalition of eight churches on the island, the WMA in particular seeks to help families who have experienced a personal catastrophe or are combating illness.
“They are the first priority,” Don Roher explained.
Others receiving help through the program are single-parent and multiple-member families, single individuals, and the Senior Center’s own Thanksgiving dinner service.
Basing it on last year’s 82 dinners, the Rohers are looking to raise $4,732 this year to cover the cost of the food items.
“Donations have just started coming in,” said Bonnie Roher. So far, she said they have been getting a good response on Facebook.
Until five years ago, the Rohers had been primarily using food drives to put together the dinner baskets. However, Bonnie explained the incoming foodstuffs varied in quality and appropriateness for the holiday. They instead began calculating the precise cost involved and soliciting monetary donations based on those figures.
“That works out really well,” she said.
“I can tell you right down to the penny,” he explained. To feed a family of two or three costs $52.10, a family of four to six costs $59.52, and for seven or more $109.93.
If the fund comes up short, the Rohers said they would cover the difference, though so far that situation has not arisen.
“It’s going to happen, no matter what,” he said of the meals. “There’s a big responsibility when you promise a turkey to someone who needs it.”
The dinners include a turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, tinned pumpkin and evaporated milk for pie, roll mix, mixed fruit, peaches, pears, candied yams, corn, green beans and black olives.
“That’s an absolute necessity,” Don Roher said of the turkey, dressing and cranberries. Much of the food is bought through the local grocers’ case lot sales. In addition, City Market and Bob’s Supermarket both have given generously to the program.
“Each store gives us 40 turkeys,” he said.
On the Nov. 21 distribution day, from noon until 6 p.m. volunteers help assemble the baskets at Harbor Light Assembly of God. “That morning I have to make sure we have all the food we need,” he explained.
In assembly-line fashion, they put together orders as people come to pick them up. Anything left over goes to the Salvation Army for its Christmas program.
Thanksgiving is a time for family and celebration, and the Rohers consider a nice meal to be an important part of that.
People who are interested in applying or would like to nominate a family in need can call the Rohers at 305-0319, drop the names off at Bear Basics, or pass them along to any of the town’s clergy. Volunteers and donations are welcome; checks to the Wrangell Ministerial Association can be given to Kem Haggard at Harbor Light.
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