Archdiocese gives gift cards for Thanksgiving
KINGWOOD — An $18,000 donation of gift cards from the Archdiocese of Baltimore will make Thanksgiving more bountiful for some Preston County residents.
The donation was recently presented to the Raymond Wolfe Center.
Karen Huffman, who works with the archdiocese and its Baltimore Appalachia Work Camp, said the group couldn’t come to the county to help with home repairs this year, so they decided to donate gift cards instead.
Huffman said the work camp started following the county’s 1985 flood. She said each year the work camp comes to the county and provides home repairs for low-income individuals.
Due to the pandemic, they couldn’t come this year, so they decided to provide families with meat for Thanksgiving dinners.
“We thought gift cards would be more convenient and easier to distribute than boxes of food,” she said.
Alix Evans, director of Catholic Charities Raymond Wolfe, said she was surprised by the generosity.
“I got a call from Karen about a month ago saying they had money left over from the summer home repair program,” Evans said. “I suggested gift cards for meat.”
Evans said when she heard the words “a large donation,” she thought the group was talking about a couple thousand dollars. She said she never expected it would be $18,000.
“We were delighted to get the cards,” Evans said. “This way, people can pick out what meat they want to fix for their dinner.”
Don Maleta, outreach coordinator for the Raymond Wolfe Center, said the gift cards are restricted to Preston County residents.
Due to the pandemic, clients must call to make an appointment.
“We lost a lot of our volunteers. By making an appointment, we can ask clients if they are on a special diet or have special needs,” Evans said. “It allows the staff to provide food that fits the family’s needs.”
To make an appointment to apply or to pick up food, call 304-329-3644 between 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday or Friday.
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