MORGANTOWN — ‘Tis the season.
If you didn’t know, Parker Alexander could have told you all about it Tuesday. The 7-year-old was gearing up for it, in fact, in those hours before Thanksgiving, as he gathered with his mom at Pantry Plus More in Westover.
Boxes brimming with turkey and all the trimmings went out to 150 families on that Tuesday, two days before Thanksgiving.
Cars were stacked bumper-to-bumper as their volunteer drivers waited for their allotment to deliver from the Pantry Plus headquarters in Westover. Everyone was delivering boxes with all the ingredients — turkey, included — for a full holiday meal, so people who might not have the resources otherwise could enjoy a holiday repast with family and friends.
It is, indeed, better to give than receive, and the nonprofit food pantry has that part of the Yule equation down, Roark Sizemore said.
If Thanksgiving was a mobilization, then Christmas, Sizemore said, will be even more so.
Another big food giveaway is planned, he said, with a Yuletide twist.
This time, it’s a donor match, with one set of families matching up with another, Sizemore said.
“Right now, we’ve actually more donor families,” he said Tuesday. “People are really generous.”
A contingent of volunteers after the Thanksgiving day deliveries even pledged to prepare meals, so that they could be delivered directly to the tables of families in need.
In a season of counting one’s blessings, Caitlyn Alexander, Parker’s mom, said it’s a good mantra and mission.
Not to mention a teachable moment, she said.
“I’m always talking to Parker about families,” she said. “We talk about how some kids aren’t as lucky as he is, and how we should always do something about it.”
Her son is listening.
“I just want to help people have a good life,” he said.
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