'Everybody wants to help': Facebook post spurs action to help Gardner area veterans

A Chair City group on Facebook is teaming up with the Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center (MVOC) to ensure local veterans and their families can celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in style.

Kimberly Blake, who recently took over as one of the administrators of the Gardner Massachusetts Community Group on Facebook, is requesting food donations from the group's nearly 16,000 members. She said she was spurred to action after MVOC officials told her that families of veterans in the community are looking for help putting together their Thanksgiving meals this year.

“(There are) over 50 veteran families who need turkeys and all of the fixings,” Blake said. “So that is now our mission.”

Members were quick to respond after a post about the situation appeared over the weekend on the Facebook page, which Blake oversees along with Laurel Chaison and Brittany Hensdill.

“Everybody wants to help,” Blake said. “One thing we can all come together for and there’s no arguments about is our veterans.”

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One of the first people to contact Blake was Kyle Coutu, owner of KC Custom Flooring, which recently opened at 356 Chestnut St.

“They ordered 10 turkeys and all the fixings to donate just because of the post,” Blake said. “So everybody is getting involved, even small businesses that are able to help.”

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Coutu said he donated the meals to give back to the community.

“It was something that we were able to do, so why not do it?” he said.

Here are the items still needed

The food drive has been so successful that Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center officials said they are no longer in need of turkeys, canned vegetables, or jellied cranberry sauce. Items still needed include instant stuffing mix, gravy (canned or packets), instant potatoes, pasta, pasta sauce, dinner rolls, canned soup, coffee and tea.

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“It’s wonderful to see people come together time and time again for our veterans,” said Stephanie Marchetti, executive director for the center. “By the time we opened (Monday) morning, we had enough folks and businesses commit to donating turkeys that we should have enough to fulfill the need as well as any last-minute requests that come in. I expect we’ll have all the fixin's by the end of the week.”

Any extra items would be donated to the Gardner Community Action Committee pantry, Blake said.

Anyone wishing to help can drop off their shelf-stable food donations between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center lobby at 268 Central St. A staff member will be on hand to assist with any items that need to be refrigerated in the center’s recently-renovated food pantry.

All donations must be received by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Thanksgiving food drive for Montachusett Veterans Center in Gardner