At least 292 families will have a heartier Thanksgiving this year as the result of donations and volunteer efforts by area individuals and businesses.
The Thomas Memorial Golf & Country Club in Turners Falls teamed up with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office TRIAD Program on Monday morning to assemble 150 boxes of food for people in need in Franklin County. This came three days after local DJ Robert “Bobby C” Campbell gave out 120 turkey dinners in Bernardston, and Kennametal — a supplier of tooling and industrial materials — worked with United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region to distribute 22 turkeys.
A couple dozen volunteers convened at the golf club to fill boxes with the fixings for Thanksgiving meals for pickup or delivery.
“We seem to be going up every year. I think the first year was 33 (boxes). We’re at 150,” said organizer Chet Czernich, adding that 144 boxes were given out last year. “It just keeps going up every year.”
Each box contained a turkey, potatoes, onions, celery, rolls, a can of peas, a can of corn, a can of cranberry sauce, squash, cream cheese, McCormick gravy mix and a Table Talk pie. Club members were focused on 75 boxes destined for the Salvation Army while people from TRIAD worked on getting meals to senior citizens. Jim and Loretta Graves donated 300 pounds of onions, while Szawlowski Potato Farms in Hatfield donated the spuds and the 150 turkeys came from Market 32 in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Czernich explained he and his wife, Charlene, have driven to Table Talk Pie Co.’s factory in Worcester the past three years to pick up donations.
“They were going to donate 100 pies. And when we got down there, they donated the whole 150 pies,” he said.
Money for this donation venture is generated from a golf tournament and raffle. Czernich mentioned he got the idea because his 1964 graduating class of Ralph C. Mahar Regional School did something similar.
Ray Zukowski, a supervisor with TRIAD, said he coordinates with local senior centers to find the elderly people who could most use the help.
“There’s just a need out there,” he said.
Campbell started his distribution with 12 volunteers on Friday in front of the Bernardston Senior Center by giving 40 Thanksgiving meals to the families involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County.
“Thanksgiving is all about giving and getting thanks,” Campbell said.
Along with Big Brothers Big Sisters, he gave money to Stone Soup Cafe, Living Waters Assembly of God, Greenfield’s Salvation Army, The United Arc and Montague Catholic Social Ministries. With all the donations, he provided about 2,700 meals.
Orange resident Cyndi Clark arrived at the Bernardston Senior Center to pick up a meal for a friend.
“Bobby helps everyone,” Clark said as volunteers loaded a 15-pound turkey into her car.
“I just want to carry out the tradition I had growing up,” Debbie Smith said as she picked up her meal for the 20 guests she expects to have this year. She explained her husband had to leave his job due to disability, and they are still waiting on his disability check. Therefore, they did not have the money for a Thanksgiving dinner, and are grateful they got to take advantage of what Campbell offers.
Campbell explained he had to raise $1,500 for his distribution of the 120 meals this year, noting that inflation made it difficult to host his fundraiser. The Bernardston Kiwanis Club, the Bernardston Veterans Organization, Franklin County’s Knights of Columbus and the Marine Corps League Oak Ridge Detachment helped Campbell reach his monetary goal.
“Everyone should get a Thanksgiving dinner,” he said when asked why he keeps doing the fundraiser. This is his seventh year raising money for turkey dinners. In his first year, he distributed 50 meals.
Eric Boliski of Bernardston picked up a meal for his sister-in-law, who had an unexpectedly tough year due to the death of her husband. Boliski explained Thanksgiving means “family,” and he is happy to celebrate with his family this year.
Slightly farther south, United Way gave away the 22 turkeys donated by Kennametal on Friday. Plant Manager Joseph Sulda said he buys turkeys for all his employees and holds a food and diaper drive for United Way at the plant. He drops off all the food that is collected and any extra turkeys.
Sulda noted Kennametal’s employees donate about $5,000 to United Way annually.
“Given how expensive it is right now, a lot of families are struggling,” he said. “We like to think we are helping those families.”
Bella Levavi can be reached at: blevavi@recorder.com or 413-930-4579. Domenic Poli can be reached at dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.