Samaritan Turkey Drive Friday, Saturday

MOSES LAKE — It may look a little different this year, but the goal is the same – Samaritan Healthcare volunteers are collecting donations for Thanksgiving Friday and Saturday in the hospital’s annual Turkey Drive. Volunteers are set up at Safeway, 601 South Pioneer Way, and will be collecting donations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Proceeds are donated in turn to the Moses Lake Food Bank.

The 16th annual turkey drive kicked off Thursday. Volunteers from Samaritan are being joined by volunteers from Moses Lake Community Health and Confluence Health-Moses Lake for 2016.

The turkey drive looks a little different in 2016, said Gretchen Youngren, director of development and communication. People who want to donate will receive a voucher card, which they give to the cashier and pay for at the register. Safeway officials will keep track of the total, Youngren said, and will pack the food. Safeway will deliver the food to the food bank Monday, and as a result food bank volunteers won’t have to unpack and repack.

“It makes the process a little bit smoother,” Youngren said. But the turkey drive will continue to take donations of real turkeys, non-perishable food and money, she said.

Each $10 voucher pays for the equivalent of one bag, which includes the trimmings of a Thanksgiving dinner. “Everything you need to make a nutritious – yet filling – Thanksgiving meal,” Youngren said.

The hospital’s turkey drive is running parallel to a similar event sponsored by Safeway – in fact, the two tables are set up next to each other.

The Safeway food drive encourages store patrons to buy a bag of food, which too will be donated to the food bank. “It’s a separate event with the same goal,” said Gail Clements, inventory control specialist for the Moses Lake Safeway. The Safeway food drive includes different kinds of food.

The Samaritan turkey drive focuses on ensuring food for Thanksgiving, while the Safeway food drive “is more to stock the pantry,” Clements said.

Volunteers from Community Health were manning the donation booths Thursday. Samaritan officials contacted Community Health about joining in, and “we said, ‘Of course we will.’ It’s really a natural,” said Julie Weisenburg, human resources director for Community Health.

Since 2001 Samaritan’s turkey drive has collected more than 100,000 pounds of food, Youngren said, and raised more than $76,000 for the Moses Lake and Warden food banks.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.