by John Dowd
For the third year in a row, the Victor School is doing their “Turkey Brigade” Thanksgiving fundraiser. The program is run by preschool teacher Kameron Bradley and second grade teacher Tracy Montague. The fundraiser works to benefit theVictor food pantry at the Neely Center of the Bitterroot Valley Church of the Nazarene. The teachers and students hope to provide as many turkeys as possible for Victor families in need.
According to Bradley, every year they have done it, the response has been “awesome!” She noted that last year there was a family that bought numerous turkeys to donate, and the entire community seems to come out to donate, even those not associated with the school.
The program kicks off in early November, when the students make turkey headbands and take a field trip to the food pantry. There, they get to see the “Clothes Closet” and the “Kids’ Closet,” which are both places locals can donate and receive clothes. During the field trip, the children learn how people in need can contact the pantry and get clothes, both for adults and for other children. Then, the Victor students are taken to look at the pantry, itself, and they learn about how they can help local families who may not be able to afford a nice Thanksgiving meal.
After treats, juice and many questions, the students return to school and start a couple weeks of fundraising. According to Bradley, the children are always “super curious and ask lots of questions.” It’s one of the biggest things the students look forward to in the year. Bradley believes this is because, not only do they get to leave the classroom and do something a little different, but they get to learn about the importance of community.
According to Bradley, the fundraiser is so important for the children to participate in because, “everybody comes together to help others, and it teaches good lessons to the kids.”
Every year, the program tries to collect as many turkeys as possible to donate. During the process, students tell everyone they know how to donate to the turkey drive. The school also hosted a community literacy night on Monday and there will be a book fair from Tuesday to Thursday from 7:45 am to 5:30 pm. Community members could learn about donating at both of these events. Outside of that, anyone in the community can donate money at any time to the drive. However, turkeys can only be donated on the collection date. This is because the school does not have freezer space to store all the turkeys. All money donated will be used to purchase more turkeys.
To participate, families can fill out “pledge” forms that say they will donate to the drive. These forms are in the shape of feathers that will be used to decorate a turkey’s tail displayed at the school. This way the children can follow along with how many donations they are getting.
The collection date will be November 21, and that same date the students will take a second field trip to the pantry, at 9:30 a.m. During that short field trip, the students will march with their turkeys to drop them off at the food pantry.
Turkeys can be dropped off either in the front office or in the wheelbarrow in the school playground. All donations are welcome, and turkeys must be dropped off no later than 9:15 a.m. Cash donations can be dropped off at the front office at any time before and up to November 21. The teachers and students say anything anyone can do will help. “Even $5, just something that can help go towards buying turkeys for families in need,” said Bradley.
As for when the children deliver the turkeys, Bradley said, “their faces just light up!”
Interested parties that want to donate to the drive can contact the school for more information by calling (406) 642-3221 or by emailing the teachers at montague@victor.k12.mt.us or bradley@victor.k12.mt.us.
Checks should be dropped off at the school, and can be addressed to the Bitterroot Valley Church of the Nazarene, with “turkey drive” in the memo.