Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving Giving

To the Editor:

On behalf of It Starts With ME! I would like to thank everyone who helped make the 8th Annual Turkey Drive a huge success! This year’s event well exceeded our expectations. With generous support from family, friends, strangers, volunteers, businesses, schools and sports teams we were able to provide 203 Thanksgiving meals to families and Veterans on the North Shore as well as provided over 50 boxes of food to four local shelters. In total, we raised over $4,800 and collected over 5,600 items of food.

It was amazing to see people from all over come together to make this happen as well as get there friends, families, coworkers, students and athletes involved. We had fresh produce donated from friends who work at local farms, to strangers donating at our local drop off centers and even donations from across the country. This was a group effort and we wouldn’t be able to do this without all of our donors. Thank you!

Thank you to our community volunteers including the Wicked Jeep Club, Suzie Sironi, Michelle Archambault, Rachel Baizen, Katie Nieves and Thomas McKinnon. Thank you to my friends who not only got involved but who also got their work places and sports teams involved; Melissa St. Pierre and Salem High School’s Advance Health, Julie Arrison-Bishop and The House of the Seven Gables, Nate Snow and Market Basket, Anthony Carnevale and Salem Liquors, Melissa McKinnon and Highlands School, Heather Brings and Hathaway School, Kelly Silk and Bates School, Kate Bouffard and Carlton School, Adrianna Carnevale and Peabody High School football cheerleaders, David Beaulieu and Global Organics, Stephanie Sironi and OSCNS, Rachel MacCabe and MMB, Anna Grzybowska and Acorda Therapeutic, Ryan Davis and Salem Police Department, Kathey Moskal and friends, Matt Viel and his friend Dominic Cavallaro III at John Cerasuolo, Inc. who donated a pick-up truck loaded with fresh produce, and Market Basket who was a big help with purchasing the turkeys and the milk, and a huge thank you to everyone who donated.

Thanks to all who made the 8th Annual Turkey Drive a great success and looking forward to another successful year in 2016!

Melanie M. McKinnon

It Starts With ME!