To the Editor:

Thanks to many, many individuals and businesses, the 2015 Turkey Drive sponsored by the Maggie Valley Area Lodging Association was a success for the eighteenth year.

We did have a wrinkle this year: the bird flu caused a shortage of turkeys, so we substituted hams for the birds.

Your generosity again allowed us to deliver Thanksgiving baskets to the Department of Human Services headquarters. In turn, their employees along with their volunteers, distributed the food to 250 families meeting DHS criteria.

Without so many people and businesses from Western North Carolina as well as several from other states, this Thanksgiving effort could not have helped as many of our county’s needy residents. So once again, kudos to all who opened their hearts as well as their wallets to help their neighbors.

Tammy Wight

President

Maggie Valley Area Lodging Association