More than 270 local families will enjoy a Thanksgiving meal this year thanks to Enclave Community Church’s A Day of Hope program.

Food boxes were prepared on Monday night, then those boxes were picked up at Enclave or delivered by church members on Wednesday.

“It’s very fulfilling to be able to supply food for so many people,” said Kathy Takacs, an administrator at Enclave and the project director. “And it’s not just the community right around us, but we’re able to distribute to all of the schools, and touch a little bit of all of Turlock.”

Preparations began weeks ago when shopping bags, with A Day of Hope leaflet attached, were distributed throughout Turlock seeking donations. On Monday, after donations had been received and organized by category, volunteers headed to the church to begin the assembly-line process of preparing food boxes.

Each team was assigned a wagon, which carried an empty box. Teams then systematically moved around the room from station to station fetching boxes of stuffing, gravy, instant potatoes, canned goods, bread, and other items (a frozen turkey is added to the box on pick-up day). Once a box was filled, another empty box was placed in the wagon and the process started again.

“I love the camaraderie with the people, working together, putting the boxes together, and making connections with people,” said church member Andrew Gibson, who planned to personally deliver a box to neighbors.  “It’s part of the joy letting them know that what they do makes a difference to people.”

On Wednesday, church members were back at it, delivering boxes or helping those who had stopped by to pick up their box.

“It means a lot,” said Melissa Crawford. “Me and my family are having a hard time right now, and this helps out a lot.”

Crawford walked from her home to the church, along with neighbor Samantha Anders, to pick up their holiday fixings.

“Times are very hard and I’m not working right now,” said Anders, a single mother. “This is really helpful.”

The Pitman High cross-country team got involved, running around the city — coach Tim McCabe called it a light workout day — to place about 1,200 donation bags on porches.

A Day of Hope began in 2006, the brainchild of Christopher Scott, then a student at Stanislaus State. Originally, the project was a student-led effort at CSUS that provided food and turkeys to families who would otherwise not be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. As students graduated and left Turlock, Enclave Community Church took over A Day of Hope as a nonprofit concern.