11/25/2009 10:50:00 AM Local church partners with food bank
to help needy families
Crystal Maiorana, 14, helps organize the many bags of blankets and coats collected by members of the Living Faith Christian Church in Prescott Valley. The warm clothing is available to families who are reciving Thanksgiving food boxes.
TribPhoto/Sue Tone
About 80-90 volunteers turned out Monday morning to work the food box assembly line at Living Faith Christian Church in Prescott Valley.
"We partner with the Yavapai Food Bank - they provided the turkeys through the Turkey Drive. We had six pallets of food, plus coats and blankets," said Pastor Randy Vanesian.
As turkeys accumulated at the Fry's and Safeway stores, drivers brought them to the church, located on Coyote Springs Road north of Highway 89A, where the turkeys found a temporary home inside a refrigerated semi-truck. DeWitt Bros Trucking of Chino Valley donated the use of its truck.
Dave Kool coordinated the packing efforts. This is his fourth year volunteering, and the church's fifth year of involvement in the project. The church contributes about $15,000 toward food, which includes rolls, stuffing mix, three cans of vegetables, pumpkin pie, whipped cream, and a roaster pan. Volunteers drove to Walmart early Monday morning to make the purchases.
Vanezian said one woman donated 6,000 pounds of potatoes to the Food Bank, so each family also received a five-pound bag. About 1,200 families will have a turkey meal for Thanksgiving thanks to the generosity and volunteer efforts of the community.
Crystal Maiorana, 14, helped pack boxes Monday afternoon, and organize the 800 jackets and 300 blankets that members gathered. This is her second year volunteering for the church.
"You help people who don't have food, you give them that," she said.
Crystal, an eighth-grader at Park View Middle School, said she also volunteers with the Toys for Tots program through her school, and helps out in the church daycare room. When her class filled shoeboxes with toys to give away, her mother said Crystal used her own money to buy gifts.
Two other volunteers, Dewey residents Tara Morrison and Ernie Ropp, put in several hours helping with the food boxes, and were the first family to receive a box and turkey to take with them as they left the church grounds Monday afternoon. Volunteers distributed the rest of the boxes Tuesday and Wednesday.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, November 26, 2009
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This was a blessing for our family and everyone else Thank you Jessie the lil guy who helped with my box NICE BOY!!! He prayed with me and was a very sweet kid!!!GOD BLESS
