{"id":208,"date":"2014-11-07T01:30:01","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T01:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=208"},"modified":"2026-04-14T18:14:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T02:14:43","slug":"thanksgiving-food-drive-seeks-donations-for-families-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/thanksgiving-food-drive-seeks-donations-for-families-in-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving food drive seeks donations for families in need"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Allison Opson Clement, News Editor<\/pre>\n
Dozens of families in the Monmouth and Independence communities are unable to afford a Thanksgiving dinner for themselves. Western\u2019s Residence Hall Association (RHA) works with other student organizations to raise donations of money and specific items to the Ella Curran Food Bank in Independence, helping to provide a turkey basket to families that request it for the holiday.<\/p>\n
The food bank would not be able to supply everything without the support of Western student donors and volunteers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put everything in there except the turkey,\u201d said Michael Mann, coordinator of leadership programs with university housing and advisor to the RHA Executive Board. A turkey basket consists of all the other items that are needed for a Thanksgiving dinner, including the fixings for cooking the bird, and a desert. \u201cThey tell us what they need, and we work to supply it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hard to get specific items donated,\u201d said Olivia Kunkel, president of the RHA Executive Board<\/p>\n
Often, people will donate money instead. Volunteers purchase items from local stores with these funds to compile the necessary items.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of our students or some of our community members could have come from these households,\u201d said Mann, adding that for the rest, \u201cIt\u2019s a moment when we\u2019re able to pay forward a lot of the opportunities we\u2019ve received.\u201d<\/p>\n
A turkey basket costs less than $16 to fill, an easy donation that can have a powerful impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny way that anyone can give, we will find a way to make it work,\u201d said Mann.<\/p>\n
Donations of food items, paper bags and money can be brought to either the University Housing Office or the RHA office in South Sister Annex under Valsetz Dining Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really helps that we can give them the largest amount possible so that the most people can get served,\u201d said Kunkel.<\/p>\n
Not only is there a great need for assistance, but the experience is also highly beneficial to those who volunteer and support the turkey basket drive, she added. The students have a chance to get connected to the community, and it is also a valuable opportunity for getting involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving this experience does really play into their leadership role,\u201d said Molly Hinsvark, RHA Executive Board publicist and historian. ÀÖ²¥ÊÓƵ is responsible for sending people out into the world, she said, adding, \u201cVolunteering does really help become a better person in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the focus on donation typically comes around the holidays, food insecurity is a year-long issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important that we\u2019re supporting it,\u201d said Kunkel. \u201cWe want to help better the community.\u201d Western students are involved with the community, she added, and this is one way to show appreciation for that.<\/p>\n
RHA Executive Board National Communications Coordinator Giovanna DiFalco said that one important feature of this effort is to help make resources not only accessible, but also socially acceptable, since there may be stigma associated with asking for help on such matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting,\u201d said DiFalco. She is working with local stores in preparation for buying the supplies that are needed for the turkey baskets, letting them know what items the drive is looking to purchase.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur part kind of stops when we take it to the food bank,\u201d said Kunkel. The Ella Curran Food Bank keeps a list of people requesting turkey baskets and distributes them when they are ready.<\/p>\n
Starting Friday, Nov. 21, volunteers from hall government and the RHA will sort out the food, and will deliver the bags to the food bank that weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a steady increase to now,\u201d said Mann. \u201cThey tell us every year how appreciative they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mann estimates that about 100 baskets were made last year. This goes a long way to helping community families, he added, but there are always more people who need help.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know all the ways that this will have an impact for everyone,\u201d said Mann. \u201cIt\u2019s a tradition we\u2019re happy to keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWe put everything in there except the turkey,\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-life"],"modified_by":"saragerrick","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25416,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208\/revisions\/25416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}