For the eleventh consecutive year, the Wrangell Ministerial Association will hand out Thanksgiving food baskets to needy families.
Distribution of the food baskets will be Nov. 22 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the first (upper) floor of the Harbor Light Assembly of God Church. Families in need of a little assistance over the holiday should make sure their names are on the list beforehand, organizers said.
Families collecting their baskets will see two familiar faces. Don and Bonnie Roher, who’ve helped coordinate the annual food giveaway since the Salvation Army decided to reduce its role over concerns about the secular nature of Thanksgiving. The tradition of giving out the baskets – which are actually boxes and grocery bags of food – dates back at least to the 1980s (When the Rohers started helping with the Salvation Army’s existing program) and possibly much longer, Don Roher said.
“What happened in the beginning is Bonnie and I were helping out at the Salvation Army,” he said. “This has been a long-standing tradition, I suspect back to gold rush days.”
One morning in 2002, Don Roher came into the kitchen of their house to find Bonnie Roher despondent over the possible elimination of the Salvation Army’s program (the group still contributes funds to the program through the Wrangell Ministerial Association).
“I said ‘What’s the matter?’ … ‘Nothing’ … ‘What is the matter?’ … ‘Well, I’m gonna miss Thanksgiving,’” he said. “I said ‘Give me a few minutes.’”
A few hours, phone calls, and a meeting of the ministerial association later, the Rohers were in charge of coordinating the program, though they don’t claim sole credit. Initial experiments with food drives proved unsuccessful, Bonnie Roher said, because the quality and quantities of food sometimes didn’t match the needs of the communities.
“It got to working with food and food drives just wasn’t working for us because of dented cans and outdated cans,” she said. “We switched over to cash instead.”
The ministerial association holds all funds related to the program, Bonnie Roher added.
Wrangell congregations hold special collections to raise the program’s funds – estimated this year to be $4,200, based on an estimate of 73 households — and then donate the proceeds to the program, Bonnie Roher said. Bobs’ IGA and City Market offer the program discounted sales on needed supplies. Boy Scout Troop 40 often helps assemble the necessary baskets, the Rohers said.
“We couldn’t do this without help from the community,” Don Roher said.
The Rohers see the program not only as a personal pleasure, but also of a way of extending ministry to the community, Don Roher said.
“I think it’s always been Bonnie’s mission to feed” those in need, he said. “While they’re giving out the food, I give out a stack of Bibles.”
The program prioritizes families with illnesses or disabilities, single-parent families, multiple member families and single individuals. Families in need of food, or who know neighbors, friends or family in need of a little help this Thanksgiving Day can call 907-305-0319, provide the names at Bear Basics on Front Street, or give names to their pastor, minister, or priest. Families unable to make the specific collection times at Harbor Light can pick up their baskets at the Salvation Army by appointment, the Rohers said.
Families unable to put their name on the list should arrive toward the end of distribution hours to ensure registered families are guaranteed a meal, organizers said.
The program collects contributions year-round, the Rohers said.
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