News Photo by Darby Hinkley Grace Schultz, Doris Thompson, Jan Krajniak, and Sara Lynn Winters pose with the Thanksgiving baskets they assembled to deliver to local families in need. The ladies are part of the women’s ministry at Alpena Seventh-day Adventist Church.

ALPENA — Eight local families will have a turkey and all the fixings this Thanksgiving, thanks to the generosity of the ladies at Alpena Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The women this fall decided to collect donated food and assemble eight baskets filled with stuffing, vegetables, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, a turkey, and more. The ladies gathered Tuesday morning as the turkeys were added to each basket.

They were getting ready to deliver the baskets to area families whose names were provided to them by the Salvation Army.

“We just wanted to do something for the community,” said Sara Lynn Winters, one of the ladies involved in the project.

Each family was notified that they were selected to receive the food.

Jan Krajniak had the pleasure of calling the recipients.

“They were so thankful and grateful,” she said. “One girl started crying, and then I started crying.”

In addition to the food, each basket will contain a spiritual book about God’s promises and a holiday card.

“You’re meeting a physical need, but also, hopefully, a spiritual need,” Krajniak said.

“I feel, when we’ve got the love of Jesus in our hearts, we want to give to others because he has blessed us,” Grace Schultz said.

Doris Thompson approached the manager of Walmart, who gave her a discount on the turkeys, which she donated for the baskets. All the items in the baskets were donated by church members.

“They were very generous,” Winters said of the congregation.

The ladies said the ministry is a blessing for both the givers and receivers.

“I feel really blessed,” Krajniak said.

“For me, it’s a real giving thing, because there were times when I lived on the food stamps,” Thompson said. “So I know how it is.”

“We affectionately call her ‘Mom,'” Krajniak said of Thompson.

The women have enjoyed working together on this project.

“It’s kind of fun, and we’re trying to come up with more things to reach out to the community,” Krajniak said.

“It’s more joyous to give than to get,” Winters added.

Darby Hinkley is Lifestyles editor. She can be reached at 989-358-5691 or dhinkley@thealpenanews.com.