Family among growing number to use local agency
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
For Barbara Benit, this Thanksgiving looked to be an austere holiday.
Thanks to Love Inc., Benit and the large family in her home was able to celebrate the holiday with a traditional dinner.
“This is, right now, awesome for us,” Benit said. “To be able to do a turkey dinner – I was worried about it.”
Benit and her husband, Michel, currently share their home with seven others – her two youngest children, plus two older daughters with three grandchildren.
Just one of those daughters is working (as a waitress), and while Barbara is looking for work, her husband recently underwent bypass surgery and will likely be looking at more surgery to come.
This is just one of the hundreds of families Love Inc. is helping with its Thanksgiving basket program this week. As Love Inc. Executive Director Bill Schoessling said Tuesday, the number of families was at “691 and counting.”
Last year, the agency handled 610 requests for Thanksgiving meal assistance – a slight decrease from 2009.
But overall, Schoessling has seen the need increase to the point where it is stretching Love Inc.’s limits.
“But the donations from the community, including service clubs and the general public, we will make it this year,” Schoessling said.
The meal Love Inc. provides is about $29 worth of food, which includes a turkey or a gift certificate to purchase meat, and various other trimmings such as cranberry sauce, vegetables, onions, stuffing and potatoes.
Participants also receive a pie and package of whipped topping for dessert.
The meal is supposed to feed a family of four. Of course, for some, that meal has to be stretched for more people.
Benit was just thankful to be able to put a meal on the table for herself and eight others. The family is surviving on the income of her one daughter, “and unemployment.”
“They gave us our Thanksgiving,” Benit said. Her husband added, “This is great, absolutely wonderful.”
While processing the Benit family through the line, a Love Inc. volunteer found the largest turkey possible – a 14-pounder in the agency’s freezer.
And yet, while 691 meals handed out multiplied by four adds up to about 2,800 people, Schoessling knows his agency is feeding more than that.
“You figure you’re feeding upward of 3,000 people,” Schoessling said.
The Love Inc. Executive Director said he wouldn’t have an exact total for another week or so, but said it takes about $22,000 to run the program each fall.
And the Thanksgiving family meal program is just the start of holiday programs offered by the agency. Schoessling said Love Inc. is still looking for people to sign up for the “Adopt a Family” program – which provides gifts for families in need during the holiday season.
“It’s been very slow in coming in,” Schoessling said of this year. More than 500 families have signed up, and Schoessling figures the agency has maybe 175 people signed up to help, “if that,” he added.
For more information on how to help Love Inc. and its numerous programs, contact Schoessling at 763-6226.
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