'Valley Thanksgiving Blessing' expects to serve 1,200 families

MAT-SU — It’s as much about fellowship as the food.

That’s the humble approach to giving and receiving that give the holidays a Valley feel. It was evident Thursday from the generosity on display at Palmer Junior Middle School and will be Saturday at the Valley Thanksgiving Blessing. Modeled after similar events in Anchorage, last year’s first Valley blessing drew a huge response.

What started as a competition between grade levels at PJMS culminated with the donation of two pick-up loads of food for the Palmer Food Bank. This year’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, led by the Leadership Class, began collecting food Nov. 7.

“Our time was shorter this year,” said Pam Lewis, activities secretary for the school. “But these short little pushes really got the kids fired up to bring in cans.”

And collect they did.

This year’s drive topped out at 2,455 canned-food items, along with several boxes of other dried goods.

“It was good,” Lewis said. “They collected a lot of food in about a week and a half.”

Making a contest of the food drive helps rally students, but PJMS staff also gets involved, she said.

“A lot has to do with the enthusiasm of teachers and staff like Ester Heck and the Leadership Class,” she said. “They really keep the kids going with competitions between grades and challenges between classes.”

Palmer Food Bank’s Henry Guinotte is glad for the donation.

“We are happy to have it,” he said Thursday while looking over the quantity of food the students gathered. “We have it spread out right now and we can hardly walk. We are getting it organized and put on the shelves.”

Guinotte, who has been at the food bank since 1974, said everything helps.

“The more food we get donated means we have more money to help people with rent or utilities if needed,” he said. “The Valley has always been very generous, but I especially like it when the kids do it because it teaches young people responsibility for those in need.”

For families throughout the Mat-Su Borough, the Valley Thanksgiving Blessing is a much-needed and much-anticipated event, said event organizer Kay Peterson.

Dave Edell was among the estimated 4,250 to 5,100 people served by the non-denominational effort to feed the hungry at holiday time.

“Without this, I wouldn’t have Thanksgiving this year, to be honest,” he said. “I certainly appreciate this and I’m sure there are a lot of others who appreciate it much more than I.”

It was the cheerful attitude and warm welcome of the more than 200 volunteers who turned out in force at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Wasilla that had Marlene Sample singing praises of the effort and generosity of her community.

Her daughter “mentioned to me that they were barely making it,” Sample said. So, when she heard about the Valley Thanksgiving Blessing, she thought of her daughter’s family. “When she sees the food, she’s going to cry. She’s going to be very humbled when I give all this to her.”

Accepting help can be a humbling experience, Peterson said. But if you ask those who volunteer to put on the event, which is also repeated in December as the Christmas Blessing, they would argue they are the ones who benefit.

“From the volunteers, I’ve heard so many good things and it was no problem getting them to come back this year,” Peterson said. “Everyone who volunteered thought they were the blessed ones. I was so impressed by everybody.”

She also was touched by the stories from local people who said that without the turkey, potatoes, rolls, vegetables — and even roasting pans — from the collaborative event, they wouldn’t have Thanksgiving.

“We would hear that they would just go without or they’d eat something different,” Peterson said. “That they could actually have a Thanksgiving meal and really make it a special meal means so much. For people who are on the edge or without work or just struggling, it’s really important.”

Economically, many in the Valley are struggling, she said. Although the blessing served 850 families last year, this year up to 1,200 are expected. Averaging out the size of those families, the events in Wasilla, Willow, Trapper Creek and Talkeetna could help as many as 7,200 people, which averages out to about 8 percent of the Valley’s population.

Cindy Knutson volunteered for the Thanksgiving Blessing last year, and will again on Saturday.

“It reminds us how blessed we are to be able to help,” she said.

The local faith community traditionally helps its own at holiday time, but by working together they’re able to help more people more efficiently, Knutson said.

“It’s just that the need increases every year,” she said. “It was the first time we had done it collaboratively. I think we were able to reach a lot more people, and as a result we got to help more individual families. When you have everybody doing it separately, you have duplication of services and you help fewer.”

For the Food Bank of Alaska, venturing into the Valley was a great move, said Jim McKenzie, the organization’s director of development and communications.

“Our mission is to make sure people have food,” he said. “We believe no one deserves to be hungry, and at this time of year, it’s hard enough to be hungry and even harder during the holidays.”

The response from last year in the Valley “is really exciting,” he said. “There’s such a need. We were amazed at the turnout and thought we needed to do more.”

Robert DeBerry contributed to this story.

HAPPENINGS

• Valley Thanksgiving Blessing is at four locations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday:

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 501 Bogard Road, Wasilla.

Willow United Methodist Church, Mile 67.5 Parks Highway.

Fellowship Lutheran Church, Mile 1.1 Peterville Road, Trapper Creek.

Upper Susitna Senior Center, 16463 E. Helena St., Talkeetna

• The Mat-Su Valley Corps Social Service Aide is collecting food for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Take two, non-perishable food items to Garden Chiropractic at 1830 E. Parks Highway Suite A-120, and receive a coupon for a new patient special. You can also drop off food items at North Star Chiropractic on Bogard and Consumer Direct. For more information, call 745-7079 and ask for Tina, or 841-2117 and talk to Maj. Georgia Steel.

• Mat-Su College traditionally collects food to share with local families for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Donations of turkeys, canned food and other food are needed. Turkey baskets will be assembled 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., today. Nominations to receive Christmas baskets are also being accepted through Dec. 22. For information or to contribute, contact PT Chang at the college.

• State Carrs/Safeway stores, including Palmer and Wasilla locations, are participating in the company’s Every Bag Counts campaign partnering with local food banks. Customers can purchase a pre-packed bag for $10, which goes to a food bank in that community.

• Both Chaz Unlimited locations in the Wasilla and Anchorage areas are drop-off points for donations to the Food Bank of Alaska. The drive, which is collecting canned and boxed food items that are non-perishable, continues through Dec. 23.