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MILL CREEK -- Whether it be on Thanksgiving, Christmas or just an ordinary day, Tyrand Cooperative Ministries are known for going above and beyond to help feed the less fortunate in Randolph County.
Besides having an ongoing food pantry at its facility to aid those in need at its Back Road facility in Mill Creek, Tyrand also hands out food baskets during both Thanksgiving and Christmas to help those who might otherwise go without a holiday dinner.
"We've been doing the Christmas food baskets for more than 20 years," Tyrand Ministries Director Belinda Toms told The Inter-Mountain. "We do them for the less fortunate in Randolph County. We try to make sure that everyone has a good meal to eat during the holidays."
Because the demand for daily items and the baskets during Thanksgiving were so high this year, Tyrand is concerned that it may not have enough food to distribute all the Christmas baskets it will hand out on Dec. 21.
"We are short of what we need everywhere, especially when it comes to the money to pay for the fresh foods, like the butter, milk, bread and the hams," said Toms.
"Thanksgiving kind of wiped us out, the turkeys were up about four dollars from what we paid last year and we also had a lot more requests for this year.
"We gave out about 60 Thanksgiving baskets last year, but this year we had requests for 91 of them. We had to take food out of our regular food pantry to make sure we took care of everyone."
Toms said the ministry already has 110 applications for Christmas baskets and she expects there to be as many as 175 before the deadline date on Dec. 13.
"We are anticipating between 150 and 175 basket requests this year, which is up from last year," said Toms. "Any money we can get will help us be able to pay our suppliers.
"We are also low on some canned items like milk, apple sauce, sweet potatoes and baked beans. Not only would donations help with the baskets, but it would help us restock the food we give out to people everyday."
Donations can be sent to Tyrand Ministries at P.O. Box 365 Mill Creek, WV 26280, designated on memo line to Christmas food. Donations can also be made via Paypal by visiting tyrandcoop.org and clicking on the donate button.
"We don't want anyone to go without this holiday season," Toms said. "Everyone is struggling and if you get an elderly person who doesn't make that much money anyway, it's tough."
Tyrand Ministries has been serving the region since 1962 when Methodist Churches in the upper Tygart Valley became a cooperating parish.
For more information on how to help, contact Toms at 304-335-2788 or tcm@frontiernet.net.