Community brings Thanksgiving feast for NC military families

Courtesy Photo | This holiday season North Carolina National Guard Family Programs, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church in Raleigh, local businesses and Soldiers of NCNG's Bravo Company, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 130th Aviation Regiment headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina provide a feast and much more for military families in North Carolina, Nov. 21, 2014. "It puts a lump in your throat," said Lisa Faison, a Family Assistance Center (FAC) Specialist with NCNG's Joint Force Headquarters. At the Raleigh, N.C., John Deere campus, the many hands make quick work as they pile gift bags and boxes filled with stuffing mix, makings of pumpkin pie, cake, green bean casserole and instant mashed potatoes donated by company’s employees on to the NCNG truck bed.  

RALEIGH, NC, UNITED STATES

11.26.2014

Courtesy Story

North Carolina National Guard

RALEIGH, N.C. - A North Carolina National Guard six-wheeled Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) can deliver nearly anything just about anywhere, fuel, water, equipment and Soldiers. This holiday season with the help of NCNG Family Programs, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church in Raleigh, local businesses and Soldiers of NCNG's Bravo Company, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 130th Aviation Regiment headquartered in Morrisville, provided a feast and much more for military families in North Carolina.

"It puts a lump in your throat," said Lisa Faison, a Family Assistance Center (FAC) Specialist with NCNG's Joint Force Headquarters.

Staff from Wells Fargo on Nov. 20 and John Deere on Nov. 21 turned out on a crisp fall day at their corporate campuses to hear the rumble of the FMTV. Soon many hands made quick work. Scores of gift bags and boxes filled with stuffing mix, makings of pumpkin pie, cake, green bean casserole and instant mashed potatoes were piled on to the truck bed.

"Anything we can do this time of year," said NCNG FAC specialist Mark Woolbright.

The FMTV is not the only convoy helping this year, for what is Thanksgiving without the turkey?

"The Elks Lodge of Raleigh continued their tradition of the 'Turkey Express,'" said Woolbright. "They came in and brought us 40 frozen turkeys gathered from Greensboro to Asheville and surrounding counties."

With the food delivered, it was time to distribute. Several thousands of dollars of food are carefully laid out on the 130th Aviation Regiment's drill hall floor. Soldiers, FAC members and volunteers packed complete meals according to a list of families in need.

Some families picked up the meals in person, other boxes were for fellow Soldiers to distribute to a family in need or local civic groups helping their community. The food, along with a gift card for perishable food from John Deere, is more than just a meal for Soldiers, Airmen and their friends and family. It is that little bit of help that makes all the difference when budgets are tight.

"I have delivered gift cards and meals and the families cried and said without you we would not have had money for our children on Christmas," said Woolbright.

• Date Taken: 11.26.2014
• Date Posted: 11.26.2014 18:04
• Story ID: 148980
• Location: RALEIGH, NC, US