Lake City community provides turkeys for families in need ahead of Thanksgiving

LAKE CITY, S.C. (WMBF) - With less than a week away from thanksgiving, one Pee Dee community is helping families one turkey at a time.

Residents and the Lake City Boys and Girls Club made it all possible.

Diann Brown, a mother of 11, was one of many who said they were grateful for the help.

“I wish more people would be able to do things like this at a time like this,” she said. “Because it’s hard on some folks that can’t afford food for Thanksgiving.”

Vernette Scott shared the same sentiment.

“It is a wonderful thing to be here today and receive a turkey from the Lake City Boys and Girls Club,” she said. “They are blessing the community and I feel beneficial that I was able to be a part of this blessing.”

Volunteers from across the city, including the Lake City Police Department, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, Prince Hall Masons of South Carolina, Masonic District 2 and 9, Royal Arch Mason Circle 30 and a number of local churches helped out on Friday.

Mayor-Elect Yamekia Robinson also assisted in making sure 90 turkeys went out to those in need. Robinson is a native of Lake City and said it was a sense of family that brought everyone together.

“It means so much to see that our community is coming together,” she said. “Because unity brings strength, and when we come to like places like the Boys and Girls Club and they’re coming together and giving the turkeys to different families. It’s just a blessing to be thankful and grateful and blessed for this great city.”

Out of all the turkeys, 10 of those were given to the families of children who attend the Boys and Girls Club.

Stormy Gillens, a retired Army veteran and former teacher in Florence County, organized the event and said he wanted to do something decent and positive for the Lake City community.

Even if it meant filling empty stomachs.

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable being in my home knowing that I have food on my table during the Thanksgiving holiday and there is a family that is without,” he said.

As many can now set the table with a hot meal in days to come, Brown said she hopes the unity of her community continues beyond the holiday.

“It doesn’t have to be food, it can be clothes, shelter somewhere or something, that’s my opinion on how I feel about it,” she said. “We all need to come together as one, we don’t do that anymore.”

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