Roanoke Elks Lodge donates $20,000 worth of food to families in need

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - The Roanoke Elks Lodge is getting ready to deliver Thanksgiving food boxes this weekend to families in need.

The Elks Lodge will give the food boxes to more than 130 families this year. Its members and the community donated more than $20,000 worth of food.

Each family will get a Thanksgiving turkey and other staple holiday food items.

The lodge’s exalted ruler and president explained how the annual food drive has a big impact on the Roanoke Valley.

”We’re just trying to give back to people that are in need that may not have the ability to feed themselves a Thanksgiving dinner,” Tom Hensley said. “This is not something that goes anywhere else but here in the Valley.”

The lodge members have dedicated more than 700 volunteer hours filling up the boxes.

The Thanksgiving Food Drive is the organization’s largest charity event of the year.

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