Volunteers from Oak Grove Church of God in Christ in Tyler and Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System came together to hand out turkeys for the annual giveaway. (Jennifer Scott/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Hundreds of families in the community received a Thanksgiving blessing Friday morning as Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System, in partnership with Oak Grove Church of God in Christ, distributed 800 Greenberg turkeys during their annual holiday giveaway.

“It really helps those in the community who are not as fortunate as those that have had the experience of trying a Greenberg turkey,” said Tyler resident Shavonda Collins. “It’s something that really brings the community together, just showing the different resources and stuff that’s available.”

Collins and many residents camped out in their vehicles as early as 2 a.m. to secure one of the sought-after Greenberg turkeys.

“I am here picking up a turkey for my grandmother for us to have for Thanksgiving,” she said. “I’m very thankful to be a part of this. It’s that time of year to be thankful, and they’re showing it by coming out and donating free turkeys to people in the community who are in need, with the support of the church and the community.”

Dozens of volunteers from the church and Christus came together to lend a helping hand, ensuring the turkey giveaway ran smoothly and every family left with a holiday meal to be thankful for. While distributing turkeys, volunteers also handed out prayer cards.

“You see people from all walks of life… just coming together for the purpose of serving the community and giving back to the community,” said volunteer Fortune Nwachukwu. “Tyler has given so much to me… and I wanted to give back as well.”

This marks the second year that Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System has teamed up with Oak Grove Church of God in Christ to provide turkeys to those in need. Overall, it’s the fourth year Christus has organized a Thanksgiving giveaway to support the community.

“It’s an opportunity for the health system, the church and the community to work together,” said volunteer coordinator Cedrick Granbury Sr. “To serve our community, to do what we can to pay it forward and to make sure that everyone knows that they are loved and that somebody out here is concerned about those that are in need.”

Granbury is on the Community & Leadership Board at Christus Trinity Mother Frances and serves as Minister at Oak Grove Church of God in Christ.

“The response is always amazing,” he said. “It’s always better than we expect. The thing about it is we just keep going higher and higher and higher and doing more and more and more.”

The Thanksgiving turkey giveaway began as the vision of Jason Proctor, president of Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System.

“He wanted to do something for the community during Thanksgiving,” Granbury Sr. said. “He was inspired by Magic Johnson and reached out to me, asking if I could help make it happen. I said, ‘Well, I guess so,’ and we got started.”

The first year, the goal was to distribute 500 turkeys, but the overwhelming response led to an additional 200 being ordered at the last minute, ultimately providing 700 turkeys.

“The second year, we switched things up and gave out 700 hams,” Granbury added. “By the third year, we returned to turkeys, handing out another 700.”

This year’s giveaway included 800 turkeys, a number that Granbury said could have a far-reaching impact.

“Each turkey can feed anywhere from five to 10 people,” he explained. “On the smaller end, that’s 4,000 people we’re touching. On the higher end, it’s closer to 8,000.

“Since we started, we’ve given out nearly 3,000 turkeys. If you multiply that by ten, that’s almost 30,000 people we’ve been able to feed and show that we care. I’m so honored and humbled to be part of such a wonderful effort.”

Christus representatives said the giveaway ties into the organization’s mission.

“This outreach is such a privilege to be a part of because it brings the community together and ties into our mission, to improve food access in our community and surrounding areas,” said Liz Shelton, administrator at Christus Mother Frances Hospital, in a press release. “We look forward to continuing this tradition year after year.”