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ELKINS -- Local Chapter 812 of the Vietnam Veterans Association will continue its long tradition of providing free meals for the needy during this Thanksgiving holiday.
For the past 34 years, the organization has offered meals to local families on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This year's event will once again take place in the Elkins Walmart parking lot and will begin at 9 a.m.
"This is something we have been doing for a long time and we are happy that we can continue to do it for local families," Vietnam Veterans Association Chapter 812 President John Miller told The Inter-Mountain. "We try to help everyone, because we know the way things are anymore and everyone is struggling. It's nice to be able to provide Thanksgiving meals to those who need it."
Miller said the organization will soon be making its way to Elkins Shop n Save to purchase the items that go into the Thanksgiving baskets. Each one will contain enough food to feed an entire family on Thanksgiving Day.
"People can start applying for the meals now," Miller said. "We will gather their information and if any of their family members are veterans, because we are a veteran's organization, we'd like to know. Each basket will have a turkey, potatoes, canned goods, bread, stuffing, gravy and other items. It's enough for a pretty good meal."
Each year the Vietnam Veterans Association distributes more than 100 baskets during the event. One year the organization provided 273 baskets to those in need.
"We are going to try and hand out a little more this year than we have the past few years," Miller said. "This is our biggest event we do each year and we are happy to be able to do it. We sell poppies throughout the year and that's where we get a lot of the money we use for the Thanksgiving meals. Other veterans groups from throughout the United States buy them from us year-round and a lot of them get them way ahead of time before Veteran's Day and the Fourth of July."
To apply for the Thanksgiving meal, or for more information about the program, contact Miller at 304-614-6885, or Jake Roberts at 304-630-2288.