Local student donates Thanksgiving food to families in need

WHALEYVILLE, Md. – One local high school student spent her Tuesday giving back to families who don’t have much ahead of Thanksgiving.

Abigail Blankenship is a senior at Stephen Decatur high school, but her dad says the 17-year-old loves spending her time and money helping others.

“It’s essential, you know, everybody needs it, it kind of brings everybody together, too, it’s something that everybody can enjoy as well,” Abigail says, and she’s talking about food. And she made sure families across Worcester County have plenty of that ahead of the holidays.

“We’re just handing out some food, turkeys, all Thanksgiving things for some families,” she said.

With the help of her dad, Abigail spent Tuesday donating this food to those families in need at the Blessing House Ministry. Leaders at the ministry say it’s people like Abigail that help them serve the community.

“Blessing House ministries is all volunteers, zero paid positions,” Frank Anderson, Director of the Ministry, said.

And they rely on donations, not just for events like Tuesday’s, but everyday.

“We get donations from local grocery stores, local within 30 miles, we pick up day old bread, day old meats, that kind of stuff, plus we get food from Maryland food bank as well,” Anderson said.

But for Abigail, giving back runs in the family.

“I’ve been helping out here for a few months now, my dad has helped for my whole life and I kind of just got into it,” she said.

And she says that’s something she has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

“It makes me feel grateful that I can give other people I guess, just because I’ve always had things given to me, so I feel like it’s a good time to sort of give back to everybody else,” Abigail said.