This past Thanksgiving, 300 people in the Morongo Basin ate turkey, mashed potatoes, vegetables and stuff that was provided by a group of high school students in Twentynine Palms.
The Twentynine Palms High School Interact Club is known for, among many other programs, providing Thanksgiving meals to people in our community who might not be able to afford it.
Here’s Interact Club Vice President Amiel Escobal to explain.
“We have our annual Thanksgiving food drive. We host it at the high school. We get donations from students, teachers, faculty. This year Grocery Outlet has sponsored our program and provided a lot of food, and we are Thankful for them.
“I grew up in Twentynine Palms. Growing up here and seeing people struggle, especially where I live. I think it’s important for everyone to have a Thanksgiving meal, whether or not they celebrate the holiday. It’s an important opportunity.”
The food was distributed to the community at a drive-thru event last Saturday, this year in the parking lot of Oasis Elementary School. I arrived forty-five minutes before the start time and there was a line of cars down the block waiting for food.
I spoke with Kieu Huyh, the President of the Interact Club:
“Today we have managed to scour up 300 bags of food. 300 of each item, like mashed potatoes, stuffing, desert, canned cream of mushroom, canned vegetables. We had a fundraiser at our school, and got Grocery Outlet to sponsor us.
“Normally we only give away 100, but since I became president, we raised it to 300!
We live in an impoverished community, and not everyone is able to afford a Thanksgiving dinner. Being able to provide something that all Americans should celebrate is very important to the school, and allows these kids to see real change in the community. These students get to make the change in our community.”
While I spoke with Kieu and Amiel, a bright yellow pick-up truck carrying a trailer with crates of frozen turkeys arrived.
The truck was driven by Twentynine Palms High School teacher and Interact Club advisor David Lopez, and he was returning with the turkeys from Grocery Outlet.
“Today’s event is to help the Moronogo Basin bridge the gap for those in need of food for the holidays.
“We do a canned food drive at the high school. We have them bring in canned foods and the class that brings in the most food wins a prize. The Interact Club itself raises money throughout the year to buy the things that we are lacking after the food drive.
“Student initiated, student driven, student functioned.
They’ve done the sign ups, the coordination. We had Reach Out Morongo Basin help us with the sign ups.
As you can see, there’s a long line of cars already. We’ll be here until all 300 turkeys are gone.”
The Interact Club’s Thanksgiving food drive is an enormous effort, but those on the receiving end of the food boxes are appreciative. And the students know their hard work matters to the community and is making an impact.
After a long day of handing out turkeys, Amiel knows that he’s made a difference.
“I see the community around me, and that people do need help. When I go to bed at the end of the day, it feels good to know that I helped people today.”
