WESTLAND, Mich. – Wayne County gave away hundreds of turkeys to families in need at their annual Thanksgiving turkey drive on Saturday.
The county has been doing the turkey giveaway since 2015 and this year, people lined up at Burning Bush International Ministries in Westland to get their hands on a Thanksgiving turkey.
A single mother of two said she was online looking for a giveaway or some way to make ends meet for Thanksgiving.
“I’m very blessed I was able to find this spot and get it for us to have at Thanksgiving this year,” she said. “With my job and everything, it really hasn’t been the best year for us. But I’m trying to make the best for my girls and this has definitely been a blessing because financially, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
Wayne County Executive, Warren C. Evans, says it doesn’t matter why people drive up to the giveaway, what matters is that they get the support.
“In our business when you’re kind of dealing with people in the health department in need you’re dealing with people in so many areas that affect county government that you just know there’s a problem out here and if we could just make one holiday a little bit better,” he said.
It’s a giveaway for Wayne County, by Wayne County.
“The employees not only come out here, there are probably 40 employees passing out turkeys, but they’re the ones also that donate to buy the turkeys and so the employees raised over $15,000 this year,” Evans explained.
In addition to the turkeys, Kroger gift cards were donated for the giveaway as well.
The county gave away more than 500 turkeys at the event on Saturday.