Food pantries in the south valley need help gathering turkeys for Thanksgiving. The Visalia Emergency Aid and the Salvation Army are both low on donations and hundreds of families are counting on them to help celebrate the holiday.
Donations are coming in but they're coming in slowly. Both organizations are nowhere near their goals but people here are confident the community will come through in the end.
The Visalia Emergency Aid will be handing out turkey's hopefully enough to feed a thousand families. But at the moment, there's not nearly enough in the freezer..
"Lately, I've been waking up at 3:00 in the morning thinking, oh my gosh where are we going to get these turkeys," says Mary Jennings.
Jennings invited us to take a look. She says donations have been coming in slowly and on her last count there were 300 turkeys on the shelves.
"I don't know if it's because it's been so warm and people aren't into the holiday spirit," says Jennings.
It's a similar story at the Visalia Salvation Army. Captain Vivianna Viquez says 528 families are counting on her organization. She opened the freezer for us and there were only 9 turkeys in it.
"We still have some more days to get them and we know with God's help and generous donations we'll get them," said Viquez.
Jennings is also hopeful. She says the people in need are the working poor, some with large families and seniors on a fixed income. She says the emergency aid will be open an extra day, on Saturday, to help meet the need.
"I encourage anyone with an extra turkey or extra food in their cabinets to give us a donation and help us meet our goal."
If you'd like to help either organization, you can drop off a turkey in person or send a check.
Donations are coming in but they're coming in slowly. Both organizations are nowhere near their goals but people here are confident the community will come through in the end.
The Visalia Emergency Aid will be handing out turkey's hopefully enough to feed a thousand families. But at the moment, there's not nearly enough in the freezer..
"Lately, I've been waking up at 3:00 in the morning thinking, oh my gosh where are we going to get these turkeys," says Mary Jennings.
Jennings invited us to take a look. She says donations have been coming in slowly and on her last count there were 300 turkeys on the shelves.
"I don't know if it's because it's been so warm and people aren't into the holiday spirit," says Jennings.
It's a similar story at the Visalia Salvation Army. Captain Vivianna Viquez says 528 families are counting on her organization. She opened the freezer for us and there were only 9 turkeys in it.
"We still have some more days to get them and we know with God's help and generous donations we'll get them," said Viquez.
Jennings is also hopeful. She says the people in need are the working poor, some with large families and seniors on a fixed income. She says the emergency aid will be open an extra day, on Saturday, to help meet the need.
"I encourage anyone with an extra turkey or extra food in their cabinets to give us a donation and help us meet our goal."
If you'd like to help either organization, you can drop off a turkey in person or send a check.