This time of year is synonymous with giving, so in the true spirit of the season, Moraine Valley Community College employees have done just that.
Spearheaded by Dr. Darryl Williams, dean of Enrollment Services, 100 turkeys were delivered in November to five towns within the college’s district. The money to pay for the turkeys came from generous people from all over campus and beyond, Williams said.
“It felt great to see how the college and the community rallied behind this. It was just the selflessness of everyone, and to see how people came together to help the less fortunate was amazing,” Williams said.
After sending emails to people at the college, personal friends, family members and former colleagues, Williams was elated to see the response. “Within the first couple of days we had almost $700. When the week was up, we had more than $1,147—enough to buy 92 turkeys. It was incredible.”
Williams spoke with Richard Whittingham at Whittingham’s Meats in Alsip, to purchase the 92 turkeys. After hearing the story, Whittingham added eight additional turkeys. “Now we had 100 turkeys, so we could give 20 birds per town,” Williams said.
The turkeys were delivered by the college’s Shipping and Receiving staff to food pantries, churches and other organizations in Chicago Ridge, Blue Island, Bridgeview, Robbins and Calumet Park.
