Offering meals for those in need

MT. PLEASANT - Following a year of major disruptions due to a pandemic, Mt. Pleasant Hy-Vee is hoping to take a little stress off local families this holiday season by providing free meals.

The local grocery store is donating 100 Thanksgiving meals to families in need. Each meal will feed a family of four and includes a turkey, stuffing mix, corn, green beans, rolls and a pumpkin pie.

Amos said this is the first year the company has done a companywide Thanksgiving meal donation. Mt. Pleasant is one of more than 260 Hy-Vee and Dollar Fresh stores that are donating up to 100 meal kits.

'With COVID-19, which has impacted the state and Henry County, this is just one way we can give back,” Mt. Pleasant store director Willy Amos said.

On Friday, Amos alongside store manager Tony Comstock and manager of marketing and wellness Kelly Reynolds, packaged the 100 meal kits and delivered them to the Tolson Community Action Center, who will distribute the meals to local families.

'Community Action has a good handle of the folks who may need the help,” Amos said.

'This is our town. We care about these folks. We see them everyday, they have a lot on their mind and that it shouldn't be like that during the holidays,” the store director added.

Keli Morgan, a family development specialist at the Tolson Community Action Center, said with the cancellation of events such as the community Thanksgiving meal and the pandemic, the nonprofit is seeing new clients.

'This year is presenting a lot of different challenges. We're seeing people that haven't struggled in ways that they are now. Lots of people didn't expect to be affected, and we're seeing a lot of new clients,” Morgan said.

'Holidays are stressful and can get a little pricey. This will go a long way so families can still have some kind of normalcy,” she added.