Daviess County Public Schools invited the community “Stuff the Turkey” with donations for families in need, and the community didn’t disappoint. DCPS ended the day with three buses loaded with thousands of items — to go along with cash donations — to help create Thanksgiving baskets.
This was the first “Stuff the Turkey” put on by DCPS Family Resource and Youth Service Centers specifically for Thanksgiving baskets, but the district holds a “Stuff the Bus” event in the summer allowing for the donation of school supplies.
Though they always create Thanksgiving baskets, the FRYSCs thought they could use some extra help due to an increased need this year. They asked for donations of non-perishable food items, along with hygiene and personal care products.
“Each school does Thanksgiving baskets for families that are in need,” said Lori McFarland, Family Resource Coordinator for Eastview and Whitesvillle elementary schools. “We wanted to try this this year just to see if we could get some more donations for our families.”
By 1 p.m., the bus parked in front of the Walmart off KY 54 was packed with donations from front to back.
“It’s been consistent all day,” McFarland said. “We’ve had a lot of good donations.”
Ellie Humphrey, family resource advocate at West Louisville Elementary School, said they’d also been steadily busy taking items in at her post in front of the Kroger in Wesleyan Park Plaza.
“We’ve seen a lot of families say this year has been hard, so it’s really helpful whenever we get donations to help those families,” Humphrey said.
Prior to Wednesday, Kentucky Legend donated 2,000 pounds of ham, and Farbest donated 200 turkey breasts, which will be the centerpiece in the Thanksgiving baskets.
All of the items from the “Stuff the Turkey” event will be unloaded Thursday, when the FRCs from each DCPS school will work together to create the baskets.
Because of the extra stress and struggles over the last several months, McFarland said Wednesday’s event was especially meaningful for families in need this year.
“This is so important right now just because of everything with COVID,” she said. “I know there’s a bigger need out there this year just because things have been so rough. I think there’s a lot more families in need.”
