Baskets with full Thanksgiving meals and all the fixings are delivered to GWS
Students at George Washington School each received a full Thanksgiving meal from HMA Contracting Group as part of their Caring Community Basket Brigade. Baskets for each student were delivered Monday afternoon with turkey, potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, bread and more.
Last year, the initiative provided 600 meals to local families, and this year they plan to double that number to 1,200 baskets. Each meal costs about $50, financed by contributions and donations from the community.
Sherry Bowman-Kluck, a Teaching Assistant at George Washington, led the collaboration between the school and HMA Contracting – where her husband, Gene Kluck, is employed.
After learning about how many local families struggle to put food on the table, and knowing his company was looking for a way to give back to the community, he brought up the idea of providing Thanksgiving meals to families and the planning began.
The program began last year, and 600 local families received a meal basket. As they began planning for this year, Gene asked Sherry if the school would be interested in participating. Sherry jumped at the opportunity.
Almost all the students at George Washington School receive free or reduced-price lunch – meaning the majority live at or below the federal poverty line.
“HMA itself is very family oriented. I feel very fortunate that my husband works there and they want to be able to give back to the community. If I can tie in the work that I do here at Questar III and be able to coordinate that with our kids here who really do have a need and who are hungry, it’s just wonderful. I have a lot of gratitude, and if we can give back as a community to the people who need this, then we’re doing the right thing,” said Bowman-Kluck.
GWS Principal Danielle Remillard shared her thanks to Sherry and HMA for providing the meals to her students.
“I can’t thank Ms. Bowman and HMA Contracting for their generosity. Sherri does great work here and is always looking for ways to get the community involved at GWS. When she heard about this program, she took the lead and because of her hard work and the generosity of HMA Contracting, our students and their families can have a full Thanksgiving meal.”
