Volunteers supply bountiful blessings to community families for Thanksgiving

Tamara Gregor, The Duncan Banner, Okla.
·2 min read

Nov. 23—An abundance of blessings helped fill pantries this month when Duncan Blessing Boxes hosted its Fourth Annual Basket of Blessings.

Dr. Kim Weaver, of Weaver Clinics, said this year they gave away 118 food baskets, 76 turkeys, 127 Bibles, 79 children's Bible's, along with a number of prayers and hugs to over 100 families during the annual Blessing Boxes fundraiser.

With the Oklahoma Blessing Boxes nonprofit's mission to "spread God's love by providing emergency hunger relief with nonperishable food to bridge the gap for people with food insecurity in Oklahoma," the Fourth Annual Basket of Blessings saw 24 volunteers ready to help bless families for Thanksgiving.

"We loved every moment," Weaver said. "We have so much to be thankful for and our goal was for every family to hear that God loves you."

Weaver addressed how volunteers not only shared food and Bibles with the community, but they also shared hope and God's love as well.

According to Weaver, they hit a record this year with 40 filled baskets donated from the community.

"We were blessed to have monetary donations to purchase the food for the remaining baskets," she said.

Over the past four years, Weaver said they have given a total of 415 food baskets during the Basket of Blessings event.

She thanked all of the volunteers, donors and Duncan Police Officer Elroy who helped to assist traffic and safety over the course of the day.

Weaver thanked Gary Criswell, of Gary Criswell Auction Service & Real Estate, Inc. for his sponsorship of the 76 turkeys; Brook Ridley and the Ridley family, of Ridley's Butcher Shop, for ordering and storing all of the turkeys; as well as Pat and Wayne Allen for sponsoring Bibles.

"We also want to thank Trey Clinkenbeard of Delbert's Supermarket in Comanche, Project Manager Rylan, and staff for doing our shopping, packing and loading for our food," she said. "This food filled 70 baskets."

She said the team helped gather all of the items they needed and stayed within the donation budget.

"We are grateful for all they do to help support our community," she said.

Oklahoma Blessing Boxes coordinators Sen. Darrell Weaver and Dr. Kim Weaver and Rose Massey formed the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in May 2020 in effort to help organize Blessing Boxes across Oklahoma.

For more information about the nonprofit Oklahoma Blessing Boxes or to make a donation, visit www.oklahomablessingboxes.org.