Being from Families Helping Families, I’m not surprised by this, because I live in Clinton. Three years ago, Families Helping Families started a program called The Full Thanksgiving Table Effort. The goal of this program was to provide a $25 food gift card for each Clinton family using the Clinton Food Pantry. We wanted to ensure that every family would have plenty of food on its Thanksgiving table.

With the dramatic increase of families who’ve come to depend on the pantry, we knew we couldn’t do this alone. We decided to turn this effort into a community-wide appeal. Willie Fritz built two turkeys that were placed at the Clinton Police Department and Clinton Fire Department. People could purchase a food gift card and drop them in. Every day, the caring and sharing with families in need, the fiber of the Clinton community, was on display as the turkeys had many gift cards in them.

Our original goal was 250. The community response was overwhelming and we received 467! It turned out we needed many more than we thought. On the last food pantry night before Thanksgiving, 348 families (the most ever) needed the help of the pantry. Every family received a food gift card and the remaining ones will be given out when family emergencies arise.

Members of the Clinton Manufacturers Coalition showed their commitment to the greater Clinton community. Member companies Argo EMS, National Sintered Alloys, Bausch Advanced Technologies, Kenyon International, Roper Thermals, Tower Laboratories, and Preferred Foam Products and their employees in the spirit of making Thanksgiving better for Clinton families combined to donate 238 food cards.

We’ve seen this spirit of caring and sharing with others time and again in our 14 years of serving our community. So we are not surprised—we are blessed to live in Clinton!

Miner T. Vincent, President

Families Helping Families