A Happy Thanksgiving for All

The main attraction at the Thanksgiving table waiting patiently in the freezer before being dropped off to the 20 families.

Putting people first rings truer and more important during the holidays for some reason. The thought of a family not sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal together puts sadness in everyone’s hearts. With the price of a traditional meal at an all-time high, more and more people could have gone without, if it wasn’t for the good people at OPC Pest Services. The employees collected and donated food traditionally eaten during a Thanksgiving meal – including turkeys!

With the help of not only OPC employees but even some of their customers, they were able to bless 20 families in the Bowling Green area with a complete Thanksgiving meal. Local news station, WNKY, came and interviewed Kelsey Gallihugh, Office Manager of the Bowling Green branch, on the day they started accepting donations. That helped spread the word far and wide and the donations certainly started to pour in. Each family got a 3-pound turkey breast, yams, cranberry sauce, carrots, green beans, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, cornbread mix, fried apples, stuffing, and mac and cheese. They had so many extra items, that they were able to donate the rest to Barren River Area Development District (BRADD) which is a program that specializes in providing help to elderly and underprivileged families in Warren County and surrounding areas. BRADD calls this branch when they have a client with a pest issue, and the branch works with them to get it under control so they can keep on doing their good work. They provided OPC with the list of the 20 families they knew were in need this year. In addition, the Lexington branch was able to help 10 additional families through a sister program just like BRADD.

No Thanksgiving meal is complete without stuffy, yams, and of course, canned cranberry sauce!

When we asked Kelsey why she organized the donations, she said, “I’ve always wanted to do something to give back to the community, so I thought this would be a great time to do it.” She also said, “I had a blast doing it! I’m so proud of our guys for getting into the spirit to deliver the meals. It was an awesome team effort, that’s for sure!”

All 20 bags packed and ready to be handed to 20 families in need.

The Program Director at BRADD sent a message to Kelsey soon after the donations were delivered. It said, “I wanted to thank you for all you have done for our seniors. This was the best project. Our clients and staff are so appreciative of what you all did. Thank You for the collection of the data and pictures that you provided!! You guys are totally awesome! Please send many “thank yous” to your staff from BRADD. All their contributions and hard work do pay off to assist our communities. We were able to make up about 15 more bags of canned goods to give out to other clients that we will be delivering before the holidays as well. Again, Thanks for all you all did!!! Anytime you want to partner up again we sure would try it!!! Thanks!!!!”

That many exclamation points will certainly drive this point home: OPC did a great thing for families in need this Thanksgiving holiday. We’re all very proud of them.