Dialing in donations: Food drives get into high gear for Thanksgiving week

By MATT HICKMAN

WASILLA — Thanksgiving week means collecting donations and distributing food to those who may need help filling the table this season, and in the Mat-Su Valley it’s been another wild success with schools, churches, nonprofits and more doing what they can to brighten the holidays of as many people as possible.

“We hear from people how relieved they are that they can celebrate Thanksgiving without putting something else at risk, like rent payment or gas for their car,” said Karla Jutzi, of the Alaska Food Bank, which fed nearly 2,000 families in six events around the borough Saturday as part of its Valley Thanksgiving Blessing. “It’s just a joyful event and a true community event.”

Jutzi said the Wasilla event alone, staged at Wasilla Bible Church, wound up feeding 1,065 families, up from 800 a year ago.

“We had a bit of a dip last year, which I attribute to a really really icy weekend — people just weren’t moving,” Jutzi said. “So far, we’ve had lots of positive feedback, six sites and all of them reporting numbers up from last year.”

Meanwhile in front of Walmart, the Mat-Su Food Bank, partnering with Q99 FM, and Mr. and Mrs. Claus, was raising funds to help needy locals through the holiday season.

“It’s cold and kind of breezy here, but still a lot of people have come by,” said Eddie Ezelle, executive director for the food bank, which, he said, is slightly off pace compared to recent years. “It’s a little thin right now, but we’re picking it up a little bit. It’s just kind of been a weird year, so we have a reduction but we’ll make it up. We’ll always be there for people who need a little help.”

Meanwhile in the schools, a pair of retired Machentanz Elementary teachers — Ann Class and Robin Ouellette, working with Lynette Ortollano at the Kids Cupboard, tapped into competition as a motivator, and the result has been more than 4,000 pounds of food.

“We’d done it for several years, and we’re retired, so we have time now — thought we’d just continue it on… We make announcements of who’s in first place, second, third place. They get so excited on that final day. It was amazing to see just how much was brought in, ” Oullette said. “Machentanz has always done a great job, but this time was above and beyond.”