They started lining up as early as noon for a three o’clock curtain call, but the joy in the air was palpable as more than 400 families from the community of Michigan’s Great Southwest waited patiently in cars, trucks, SUVs and even in a wheelchair or two to receive the gift of a holiday turkey and many of the ingredients for the trimmings in what has become an annual gift from a community collaborative of friends.
The City of Benton Harbor, Whirlpool Corporation, the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and the Southwestern Michigan Community Action Agency teamed up this afternoon to serve more than 300 needy families from Benton Harbor and Benton Township and another 100 or so from Stevensville and St. Joseph.
Ryan Ogle, Championship Director from the PGA of America had his full team join the ranks of some eighteen volunteers as well as members of the Championship’s Executive Committee, telling me he was “Ready to welcome everyone in, deliver their turkey and fixings and wish them a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.”
It’s one of Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad’s favorite days of the year as he told me, “This is where I can put all the political shenanigans to the side and really look at not just the holiday season, but the meaning of it in terms of helping people, reaching out, and working together,” adding, “This makes it all the more fulfilling.”
Regarding his duties as a part of the volunteer crew the Mayor said, “I’m going to hand out some turkeys…I’m going to hug some people…I’m going to smile…and I’m just going to have a great time. This is what Michigan’s Great Southwest is all about.” The Mayor notes, “When we started out it was just a truck and ‘here’s a turkey.’ Now, thanks to our collaboration with Whirlpool, the Senior PGA Championship, the SWM Community Action Agency, and the City of Benton Harbor we have a system where we can serve more, as a result of working together and being organized.”
Whirlpool exec Deb O’Connor concurred, saying, “The first year it was one truck with a bunch of turkeys and we were throwing them off the back of the truck, and now it’s super organized, there have been people lined up I guess since noon, so it’s been really popular, but it’s also really important to the community. It is truly a team effort, and has been from the start.”
Saying, “We are handing out turkeys and other food items for a holiday feast, so that everyone in the community can have a wonderful family dinner,” O’Connor concluded, “It’s really fun because my job is to roll the cars in and get them in place so we can put the food in their car, and everybody’s just so gracious and truly grateful and happy and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, so it’s been really fun and you leave with a really good feeling in your heart.”
For those delivering, a good feeling in your heart. For those receiving, a warm feeling in both their heart and stomach at a time when everyone should be allowed the dignity of a holiday to remember.
Ogle’s staff pitched in as did Rob Cleveland and Greg Vaughn from Cornerstone Alliance and a number of regular volunteers from both Whirlpool and the SMCAA to make light work of the load of 400-plus turkeys and other food cartons for those who likely would have had considerably less on their Christmas dinner table this year.
