Boise Rescue Mission, Micron provide Thanksgiving fixings for those in need
Normally, the Boise Rescue Mission hosts a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner for those in need in the community in the days before the holiday. This year, the mission hosted a “great turkey distribution,” laughed Bill Roscoe, president and CEO of Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, providing all the fixings for people to cook their own dinner at home.
“We’re doing what we can with what we can under the circumstances, and we’re just thrilled that we have this opportunity to bless people,” Roscoe said.
People signed up in advance for the food boxes, and drove through a gauntlet of volunteers who passed out socks, dinner rolls, a box of food with all the trimmings, a frozen turkey and plenty of good cheer.
“Everybody who’s come through has been very thankful,” says Azra Bosnjak, who volunteered with her nieces and nephews. “There’s no other joy like giving.”
The mission gave away 500 turkeys in a similar drive-thru session in Nampa earlier in the week, and expected to serve about 300 families in Boise. It’s fewer turkeys and food boxes than last year, Roscoe said.
“We have enough turkeys, and we always hope we have enough turkeys to get into Christmas, and we always hope that we have turkeys to go into the spring,” he said. “It’s the most generous community on the face of the earth.”
Don Lineberry dressed up like a turkey for the occasion, as he loaded a frozen counterpart of sorts in cars.
“We all have something to be thankful for,” he said. “I know it’s been a rough year. But let’s bring a little cheer to each other — you know we’re all in this together.”
Micron donates turkeys, ham to Idaho Foodbank
The Boise Rescue Mission wasn’t the only organization making sure Idahoans didn’t go hungry on Thanksgiving.
According to a Micron Technology press release, employees at the company donated 1,684 turkeys and 827 hams to the Idaho Foodbank this year. The company has donated 210,800 pounds of food to the foodbank since 2011.
That’s the 19th consecutive year that Micron has collected food for families for the holidays. To help Idahoans during the hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic, Micron also gave $250,000 from its COVID-19 Response Fund to the foodbank earlier in 2020.
“Their generosity this year, particularly in the face of a global pandemic, is reassuring and heartening,” said Karen Vauk, president and CEO of The Idaho Foodbank, in the release. “This annual tradition is especially inspiring as the employees participate with the sole intention to ensure that neighbors in need have an opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with a special meal.”
To learn more about how you can give to the foodbank during the holidays, go to idahofoodbank.org/hope-for-the-holidays.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 5:06 PM.
