OU students provide holiday dinner to 30 local families

Members of Ohio University's Student Social Work Association (SSWA) raised enough money to provide 30 families with Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Jane Riley, president of SSWA, explained that this is the first year the student organization has combined graduate students with undergrads, as well as opening SSWA to all academic majors. In the past, graduate students and undergrads were split and members had to be social work majors.

The Thanksgiving dinner fundraiser was started last year by the graduate students' social work association. "One of our members was interning at a local mental health center and she identified a need," Riley said. "She noted that families don't have the income to buy things like a turkey, which can be more expensive than what you normally spend on groceries, so we wanted to do something to take pressure off of families and allow them to still have that traditional, holiday feast."

Riley said that last year's donation allowed for the serving of Thanksgiving dinners to 10 families through Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling, based in Athens. She said they decided to donate funds this year to the same agency, except this time, the SSWA raised enough money to triple last year's donation. Riley said that 30 families will be selected as deemed needed by Tri-County.

Members of SSWA began the fundraiser in October and sold "social work" T-shirts. Riley said the fundraiser wasn't exclusive to OU students, and community members and faculty also contributed to the cause. "We've had a bunch of people ask for in-kind donations and monetary donations," Riley said. "Also, we've had some members go to local businesses. The local Save-A-Lot has been wonderful; they've actually given us a significant price break on food items so we can purchase more for the families."

SSWA members are going to finish their shopping and deliver boxes of food to Tri-County in Belpre by today, Nov. 21. Riley said they are adding more of a personal touch this year by including local food with recipe ideas. "This year we're going to include a note wishing the families a Happy Thanksgiving, and we're going to offer recipes with certain food items," she said. "Last year, we donated all non-perishable items, such as milk and eggs, but this year we're actually going to purchase locally grown apples, fresh potatoes and carrots."

Riley said she hopes the fundraiser will continue to progress each year. "I've worked in a lot of agencies where people don't necessarily have the resources to participate in this type of holiday, and so I know that it can be disheartening to not be able to provide such things for your family," Riley said. "This fundraiser helps us as members recognize how thankful we are that we can provide these things and that we have such a supportive community. It makes us more grateful."