Anderson Interfaith Ministries gives more than 700 turkeys to families

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - Volunteers with Anderson Interfaith Ministries, also known as AIM, woke up early Monday morning and braced the cold to help families in need.

Michael Dill volunteers with AIM once a week. The organization started an annual Community Wide Thanksgiving Giveaway three years ago. It’s one of his favorite events to volunteer at.

“I think I have been blessed,” Dill said. “To me, if you come through life and you have been blessed, then you should give something back.”

Dill says his brother and him were raised by a single mother.

“We know what it is like to depend on someone else to help you sometimes when you are in need.,” Dill said.

He says his mother always managed to cook a thanksgiving dinner. But the neighbors on his street helped a lot during the holidays.

“We were a close knit neighborhood, everybody knew everybody,” Dill said. “So when you needed something you went to someone’s house and asked. If they had it, they gave it.”

That neighborly attitude has stuck with him all his life and it’s why he gives back. He isn’t the only volunteer feeling that urge to pay it forward. Eric Butler is a volunteer from Lowe’s and says coaches helped him when he was a young athlete.

“They helped get us to and from games,” Butler said. “It was just something that I always remembered. So the older I got, the more I give it back to sports and to those who need it most.”

Emily DeRoberts is an employee of Duke Energy and was one of around 100 people who volunteered at the event. She says many families are in need now more than ever.

“Times are tough for people right now, with inflation and prices going up, families are struggling,” DeRoberts said. “So we are delighted just to help them with food for a holiday meal.”

Dill says this is what the holiday season is all about.

“Life is not about taking, it is about giving,” Dill said. “It’s a blessing to give more than it is to take.”

AIM organizers say they had 800 turkeys on hand to give away. By the end of the day about 100 were still left. They say those will go to the food pantry for anyone else in need.

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