Buckhannon Toyota donated $10,000 to Feed My Sheep Food Outreach to help cover the costs of upcoming Christmas baskets.
Lisa George, director of Feed My Sheep Food Outreach, visited Buckhannon Toyota on Dec. 10 to accept the $10,000 donation.
“The majority of those funds are going to be spent on our Christmas meal giveaways, where we’ll have about 400 families come in to get their food for the Christmas holidays,” George said. “They’ll get a ham, a variety of nonperishable vegetables, fresh fruit, potatoes — just different things, anything that would complete a holiday meal.”
This is the fourth year Feed My Sheep has put together Christmas meals for anyone in West Virginia.
“The need is just so overwhelming. You have families where the mom and the dad work full-time jobs, and they fall through the cracks and can’t get any help — but then at Christmas time, they need a little bit of support,” George said. “We also do a Christmas store for seniors and veterans, and then we do homeless backpacks. We put things like hand warmers, gloves, blankets, different types of food and flashlights in them, and we distribute those.”
Jason Minsker, president of Buckhannon Toyota, said the dealership has partnered with Feed My Sheep several times because he sees the impact they have on the community.
“They’re a great organization. They help a ton of people; they have grown and grown. I’m not even sure what their numbers are now, but I know they’ve come a long way over the last few years,” Minsker said. “There are a lot of people who need help, and they’re ready to help them. Around this time of year, there is always a greater need, and they’re good at taking care of everybody.”
George said she has noticed about a 40 percent increase in people needing their help since the beginning of October.
“We always distribute food on the fourth Saturday of the month, but when we have a holiday, we do it the weekend before so they can get their meal for Christmas. These baskets will be handed out Dec. 20,” George said. “We offer other services outside of our food distributions, and people are welcome to come see us anytime.”
Some of these other programs include providing baby diapers, adult pull-ups, bed pads and wipes; providing backpacks, blankets and luggage to the foster care program; and a back-to-school supplies bookbag program.
Feed My Sheep Food Outreach can be found at 2357 Brushy Fork Road in Upshur County. A full list of available programs can be found on their website. The website also features a link to donate funds for future projects, like expanding their building or finding a new, larger space.
