Island Lake officials deliver Thanksgiving meals to local families

A small team of Island Lake officials, employees and volunteers gathered Tuesday to put together Thanksgiving meals for local families.

They put frozen turkeys, cans of corn and green beans, jars of gravy, sacks of potatoes and other ingredients in large cardboard boxes that then were delivered to about 20 addresses in town.

The project is an annual tradition at village hall.

"In a country as rich as ours, no one should be going hungry," said Village Clerk Georgine Cooper, who participated in the assembly line operation.

The food was purchased with money donated by local residents as well as by groups including the Island Lake Lions Club, Island Lake Trustee Mark Beeson said.

Potential recipients are suggested by village hall employees as well as officials at Cotton Creek School and Matthews Middle School.

Not all of the recipients are poor. Some are elderly and some are dealing with serious illnesses in their families.

"It's just good to help people who really need it," Trustee John Burke said.

The packages are big enough to feed sizable families. In addition to turkeys and ingredients for side dishes, the boxes contained gallons of milk and frozen pumpkin pies.

After the boxes were completed, Beeson and other volunteers delivered them to the families.

Organizers will repeat the meal production process in late December ahead of Christmas.