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POSTED: Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009

Community donates tons of turkeys to Bellingham Food Bank

BELLINGHAM - When the Bellingham Food Bank put out a call for turkeys to help meet what was expected to be a record need this Thanksgiving, the community gave generously.

"So many folks responded, which is great," said Mike Cohen, executive director for the Bellingham Food Bank. "It's really humbling to watch people do their part."

As of Tuesday, Nov. 24, about 1,500 turkeys had been donated to the food bank. So many have stepped forward to help that Cohen expected to be able to give a turkey to just about every food bank client who wants one.

"We live in an incredibly generous community," Cohen said. "The tough economy has probably heightened people's awareness of local hunger issues."

The need has been great.

Cohen said the food bank saw 846 visits on Friday, Nov. 20 - a record high until Monday, when 876 visits were recorded.

Wednesday was expected to be another record-breaking day of need, according to Cohen.

Visits to the food bank have jumped by more than 40 percent since 2007, food bank officials have said.

Cohen said dozens of individuals have shown up with one to three turkeys, and one man's network of friends on Facebook came through with 100 turkeys for donation.

He also noted "incredible" contributions from businesses. Among those stepping up were the employees and contractors at the BP Cherry Point refinery.

• Employees for Matrix Service Inc., which is a contractor at the refinery, donated 220 turkeys.

• Ram Construction, which also is a contractor out at the refinery, dropped off 150 turkeys.

• The Reachout program at the refinery - a separate effort made up of a coalition of employees and contractors - contributed 450 turkeys.

Reachout's big project occurs around Christmas when the program gives gifts and food to needy families. Last year, it did so for about 230 families.

The program doesn't usually donate turkeys to the food bank for Thanksgiving.

"The food bank was hurting this year, so we helped out," said Rick Parks, vice president of the Reachout program.