Organization helps those in need
Talking turkey is nothing new for Bill Campbell.
Campbell, - along with his wife and four volunteers - runs United We Care, a non-profit organization based out of Grovetown, dedicated to feeding and clothing the poor and needy.
United We Care volunteers Mona Gay (clockwise from upper left), Angie Campbell, Bill Campbell, Sabrina Wright and Barbara Summerall are collecting turkeys for distribution to needy families at Thanksgiving.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
And with Thanksgiving just weeks away, United We Care is experiencing a little need of their own. Campbell, a retired truck driver and Baptist minister, is pleading for the public to donate turkeys, or money to buy turkeys, so local families won't be forced to do without this holiday season.
"We've been giving out turkeys to (needy) families for the last three or four years," said Campbell of his nine-year old organization. "Last year, we gave out 146 turkeys. This year, we're hoping to (donate) 150."
Campbell's only criteria for giving out turkeys is that people requesting them be in need.
"We mostly give turkeys out to families that don't have the money to buy one themselves," Campbell said. "A lot of people have been laid-off this year and money is tight. We don't want them to have to go without.
"Times are tough right now," he continued. "There are people out there with four or five kids in their families, who really need our help."
In addition to donating turkeys to those in need, United We Care also enlists the help of Grovetown Public Safety to deliver prepared meals on Thanksgiving Day to many local residents who are unable to leave their homes and have no one to spend the holiday with.
"We deliver meals to the elderly everyday, just more so on Thanksgiving and Christmas, because we're a community police department," said Capt. Gary Owens of Grovetown Public Safety. "We're here to serve the community as well as enforce the laws."
Campbell, who is the departmental chaplain for Grovetown Public Safety and holds the rank of captain, said, "We deliver around 75 prepared meals to shut-ins and the like, just to make sure they have a hot meal, and to also let them know that someone out there cares."
Anyone wishing to donate a turkey to United We Care may deliver them to 101 Newmantown Road in Grovetown. Those wishing to send a monetary donation should make checks out to United We Care and send them to the following address: 410 Creek Side Drive, Grovetown, 30813. For more information, call 650-7757 or 854-8852.