Hundreds of South Bay families will be able to eat a Thanksgiving dinner thanks to the annual National City Turkey Giveaway at Cornerstone Church in National City, held on Monday, November 21.
The turkey giveaway started after the principal of an elementary school in  National City reached out to the mayor’s office and asked for help because some of the student’s families weren’t able to have a Thanksgiving dinner.
Eight years ago, the first turkey giveaway helped a few families in one National City neighborhood. Now, the giveaway serves the neediest families in National City and even  Naval Base San Diego personnel.
“This year 450 families were able to meet their needs with the turkey giveaway,” National City Mayor Ron Morrison said at the event. “Different sponsors and businesses in National City helped to provide turkeys and all the sides for a Thanksgiving dinner.”
The message sent by the drive is that National City is a community that pulls together.
“In National City we are a community that looks out for each other. There are a lot of different outreaches happening in Thanksgiving, Christmas, and year-round. That’s just the way we are. ” Morrison added. “We make sure that we do our best to help the people who are truly in need.”
Most of the families at the event mentioned they would not have been able to even have a turkey or the fixings on Thanksgiving if it weren’t for this giveaway.
“I think this turkey giveaway is a great event. Unfortunately there are a lot of people like me that don’t have enough money to make a Thanksgiving dinner,” said National City resident Marilu Carranza. “I wasn’t planning on doing a Thanksgiving dinner. Now, with the turkey and fixings I got here, I can. Every year, it depends on the economy if we have a dinner or not, and this year, thanks to this event, we will.”
Esperanza Huerta, a recipient of the giveaway, said she was grateful of the giveaway because there are a lot of families that benefit from it.
“If it weren’t for the turkey and fixings they gave me today it would have been difficult to have a Thanksgiving dinner,” Huerta added. “To have a thanksgiving dinner is a privilege for my family. We are planning to get together as a family on Thursday and give thanks for a lot of things including having a family, friends, and the help of the community.”