Thanksgiving and Christmas Meals get Gobbled by Students in Need

For many years, St. Peter’s UCC has had the opportunity to give out 15-20 turkey dinners at Thanksgiving and Christmas to people and families that come to us for assistance. Carol Iannotti, a Jewel Osco employee and member at St. Peter’s, has used her contacts at Jewel to supply boxed dinners for four to these families, including turkey, potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce. This year, thanks to additional efforts by Iannotti and St. Peter’s Office Administrator Laura Olson, we kicked it up a notch.

Partnering with Sara Rankin, Community Schools Resource Coordinator for District 69 and Jewel Osco at 5667 Touhy in Niles, St. Peter’s delivered turkeys and sides for needy families in Skokie’s elementary schools for Thanksgiving, where over 50% of District 69’s students fall in the low-to-no income range.

As part of Jewel-Osco’s “Gobble Gobble” program, customers have been graciously donating “Turkey Bucks” (vouchers) in $1, $5 or $10 increments to raise money to purchase deli turkey dinners for struggling local families. Customers at the Niles store have embraced the idea, and whenever a donation is received, cashiers celebrate by acknowledging the donation via an energetic “gobble gobble” over the store speakers.

“What’s so great about this program is each store has partnered with a local charity that will distribute the meals directly to needy families the community,” said David Ryan, a Jewel Osco Service Deli Manager. The Niles store chose to partner with St. Peter’s.

On Friday, November 17, St. Peter’s received the turkeys that the Jewel purchased through this voucher program – 220 total meals – and delivered 130 of them to District 69 schools. Olson made stickers for each meal with a welcoming, inviting note to the families who receive the turkeys. Schools responded on November 29 with thank you cards for the church, signed by the students.

“Thanks to Sara for coordinating with the schools, and thank you so much to Carol, Jackie, and Phil at the Jewel for all their hard work,” says Olson, “And thanks to all your customers for the donations!”

Twenty of the meals that did not go to schools were given to families within the St. Peter’s community who need them, and 70 dinners went to the Niles Township Food Pantry. We also received an additional donation from the Jewel after the Thanksgiving weekend of turkey breasts. These were sent directly to the New Hope Food Pantry (7115 W Hood Ave, Chicago). St. Peter’s is very grateful to be a part of such a network of loving, generous people.

“The best part is get to do it all again for Christmas!” says Olson. Turkey dinners from the Christmas collection will not only go to schools again, but plans are to give to members of the Interfaith Community, as well as UCAN (Ulich Children’s Advantage Network), a longtime partner of St. Peter’s UCC.

With the holidays in full-swing, Ryan believes Turkey Bucks donations are just getting started. “Our goal for [all Jewel Osco stores during] the Holiday Season is to raise over a million dollars to feed needy families,” Ryan said. From now until December 24, Turkey Bucks officially transitions to “Holiday Bucks.” The goal, however, will remain the same: provide a nice Holiday meal to people less fortunate.

St. Peter’s will continue this mission, and will distribute more meals at Christmas. So the next time you are at Jewel Osco, you can help by donating $1, $5 or $10 at the checkout. Every little bit adds up to help make someone’s holiday great!

https://local.jewelosco.com/il...

http://www.stpeteruccskokie.or...

http://nilestownshipgov.com/fo...