HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Hunger doesn’t take a holiday. While many people in the Tri-State gave thanks for a Thanksgiving meal, others scrambled to just find something to put on their plates.

Missio Dei Church, in conjunction with other local churches and businesses, attempted to cross the holiday hunger divide Nov. 20 with the Turkeys for the Tri-State food drive.

The drive raised 270 turkeys for the Huntington Area Food Bank (HAFB).

The drive was from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Pullman Square in downtown Huntington. Anyone could drop off a frozen turkey of any size.

The drive raised 70 more turkeys than expected, which were placed into baskets that were given to the HAFB’s agencies to feed hungry Tri-State residents.

The HAFB provided Thanksgiving-themed foods to put in the baskets.

“I think it was very successful. I had a personal goal of 200, so getting 270 was outstanding,” said Missio Dei pastor Mark White. “I think the generosity was exceptional, and a lot of people brought more than one turkey. I think that people understand that the Gospel calls us to be generous, so maybe next year, they will be even more generous.”

The turkeys and other items will now make their way to some of the 91,000 people the HAFB serves each month in West Virginia, southeastern Ohio and northeastern Kentucky.

“We are very happy that the Missio Dei Church decided to host this turkey drive to benefit the food bank,” said Kaylin Adkins, HAFB director of development. “Without food drives, we wouldn’t get as much food coming in. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we need to make sure we have enough food to allow hungry people in our region to have a good holiday. Because of this food drive and the generosity of people in the Tri-State, we can proactively try to curb hunger problems in the area.”

Crew Community Church, Crosspoint Community Church and East Pea Ridge Baptist Church also participated in the drive. White said that he hopes Turkeys for the Tri-State will become an annual event and will continue to expand.

For more information about Turkeys for the Tri-State or Missio Dei Church, contact Mark White at mark@missio.cc or Hilton Hastings at hiltonhastings@hotmail.com. You may also visit www.missio.cc. For more information about the Huntington Area Food Bank, visit www.hafb.org or call 304-523-6029. Type in “Huntington Area Food Bank” on Facebook to join the group. Follow the HAFB on Twitter at hafbfood4all.