Nov 14, 2016 6 min read

There are nine days left until Thanksgiving Day, and 2000 Turkeys is heading into the home stretch.

You’re probably making a grocery list and getting ready to buy your bird, cans of pumpkin to make pumpkin pie, and stuffing mix.

While you’re heading to the store, please take a minute to drop a check in the mail to 2000 Turkeys to help make sure your food-insecure neighbors in Washington County also enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving is a time for many of us to reflect on the blessings in our lives; among them, our families, our homes, our health and our jobs.

But there are more than 19,000 people in Washington County – more than half of whom are children and senior citizens – who are in need of help from the food bank during the holiday season.

Hundreds of businesses, organizations and individuals in Washington County have answered the call, donating more than $50,000 to the 2000 Turkeys campaign, which helps the Greater Washington County Food Bank provide Thanksgiving meals for unemployed and underemployed families.

We thank you for that. We’re grateful for the $1,000 checks donated by local companies and organizations like BPOE Washington Elks Lodge 776 and Burke Racing Stables, and the $10 bills paper-clipped to post-it notes and donated in memory of a loved one.

But we still need your help. 2000 Turkeys is working to raise nearly $49,000 over the next nine days to reach its goal of $100,000.

Every $20 donation provides a Thanksgiving dinner for a family of four.

On Nov. 18, Range Resources is hosting its second annual 2000 Turkeys Food Drive in Washington at the Main Street Farmers Market from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Range also will accept donations of nonperishable food items.

Turkey placards are for sale at the Canonsburg and Washington Shop ‘n Save stores, and donation jars are set up at locations throughout Washington County.

Every dollar raised through 2000 Turkeys goes toward making sure our neighbors in need can spend Thanksgiving around a table with their families celebrating with a holiday meal. Let’s help every Washington County family have a happy Thanksgiving.

Please make checks payable to 2000 Turkeys, P.O. Box 2000, Washington, PA 15301.. Or drop off your donation at radio station WJPA or the Observer-Reporter in Washington.

Thank you to the following, who generously donated to the campaign:

In Memory of my Husband James R (Bob) Stewart from Joan Stewart $100

In Memory of Faye & Linda Foflygen by James Foflygen $100

Safeway Termite Co. $100

In Loving memory of Myrtle Fine Marchich, Mabel Fine Wasko & Gordon Fine by Cheryl & Theodore Marchich $30

In Memory of Virginia Brown by Eve Wiltrout $100

In Memory of Leota Carter from Kenny Carter $30

Janet & James Abernathy $25

Theresa & Earl Dhanse $50

Daniel & Katherine Bayer $25

Pat & Ray Fratini $25

In Memory of my husband Frank E Britko by Linda $20

Richard & Cathy Allinder $50

Robert & Vernice Phillips $50

Carol Coffield $50

Jackson Hutchinson $50

Gavin & Serena Durkin $100

Harry & Suzy Grubich $100

Richard & Patricia Morflak $25

Sandra Shadel $20

Margaret Baker $50

Manuel & Bessie Johns $20

In Memory of Tommy Arena by Cathy & Johnny Hoy $50

Josephine Stotka $20

Shirley & John Marcucci $20

Marjorie Fischer $25

Lloyd & Barbara Dearolph $40

In Memory of my Husband Harry F Sanders by Marian Sanders $2,000

Ed & Nancy Bedwell $200

In Loving Memory of our Daughter Karen Rossetti from Conrad & Gerrie Rossetti $35

Terry & Karen Bennett $50

Albert & Roberta Jackson $25

Clyde Wilkinson $40

Thomas & Mary Ellen Hummell $40

Doris & Michael Sorice $25

Walter Lekwart $50

Carl Hamilton $20

Robert & Patricia Crall $20

Clifford & Patricia Fordyce $25

Donald & Betty White $50

Mary Lou Campbell $20

In Memory of Lois & John Rimmey by Nancy & David Rubis $100

Garvin & Rosalyn Putt $50

Jean & Richard Cholak $25

Gilbert & June Finley $25

Robert Mary $25

JoAnn Ireland $20

Deborah Wolbert $20

Paul & Cheryl Skiviat $50

Merle & Opal Strope $25

Janet Gowern $15

Falleroni Dental, LLC $100

John & Denise Quayle $100

Fred & Joanne Caruso $50

Ellen & Robert Deblasio $100

Joe & Elaine Stopka $50

In Memory of Raymond & Mary Kifer by Charles & Peggy White $50

Cindy Brookman $30

Bernice Borkowski $15

Julia Patterson $25

Dennis & Lu McWreath $20

Mark & Linda Brezinski $25

Dennis & Linda Sarchet $25

In Memory of Byron Smialek by Paul & Carol Love $25

Mary Bier $30

Edward & Ruth Vero $50

In Memory of Ila Narigon by Harold & Cora Narigon $50

John & Sandra Zajac $20

Billie & Lee Robinson $100

Dara & Richard Lemmon $25

Patrick Morgan $200

Michael & Elizabeth Bradwell $100

Judith Buckingham $50

Susan & Mark Nickler $50

Harry & Mary Haas $25

Joan & Frank Steiminger $25

In Memory of Jack & Lois Barlow by L. Darlene Simpson $50

Ed & Carol Imperatore $25

Sharon & Kenneth Opal $100

Pauline Manko $25

Edna Jean Sawchuck $25

Steven & Susan Wolf $250

In Loving Memory of our Parents Nick & Josephine Y. Skirchak from Joyce & Janine $300

Mary Cessar $30

Ethel Cummins $25

Valerie Espino $100

Ruth McCurry $20

Uncle Coote, Bubba, Terri & Vern $25

Rose Morgan $20

Linda & Richard Brytus $100

Phyllis Ullom $50

Laura & Victor Perri $25

Marilyn Taylor $25

Frank & Karen Gasper $30

Pamela Siegel $500

William & Deborah Murdock $50

Norman & Donna Dinardo $25

Alfonso & Freda Fortunato $20

John & Sue Pomykala $50

Eric Held $50

John & Patricia Kozon $20

United Mine Workers of America Local Union 1197 $200

In Memory of Carol Crouch by Cindy & Gene Beattie $25

Edward & Carol Weekley $100

In Memory of Bell & Halady Grandparents, The Bell Gang $50

Dorothy & Gerald Pattison $20

Anne & Gary Waters $25

J.C. & Lucille Hilty $50

George & Carol Stein $35

Gerald & Roberta Walker $25

In Memory of the Hay Family $50

In Memory of the Yanavich Family $50

Anonymous $225

In Memory of Ernest Koren from Nancy Koren $20

Louise Stringer $500

Debra Huggins $20

Lower Ten Mile Presbyterian Church $250

James & Rebecca Jackson $25

Geneva Iddings $25

Janet Bof $20

In Memory of Carol Masquelier from Dick Masquelier $50

In Memory of my Dad, William J Quinn from his son Roman Quinn $20

Charlie & Joan Hockenberry $30

Linda & Skip DiSibio $35

Bill & Bonnie Pagano $30

Fairhill Manor Christian Church $50

Debra Wilkes $20

National Slovak Society Assembly 588 of Avella $100

Bill & Cookie Kazakewicz $30

Charlotte Evans $50

Patrick & Linda Donahue $50

Lee & Patricia Kunkle $20

In memory of Donald Trautman by wife Lillian $50

James & Melissa Dejohn $20

Robert & Virginia Somplatsky $50

In Memory of Anthony F. Brach by Janet W. Brach $20