The November 9th meeting of the Twentynine Palms Rotary club was a testament to the generosity of the rural desert community.
 
The guest speaker that day was Cynthia Lopez, who was there on behalf of her husband, Dave Lopez, who is the advisor to the Twentynine Palms High School Interact Club. Despite some difficulty, the Interactors are working diligently to gather food and turkeys for their annual Thanksgiving Dinner give-away. During her presentation, Lopez noted that one of the biggest challenges was the loss of a longtime anonymous donor, who had purchased the turkeys and other incidentals for the Thanksgiving baskets in the past. Their goal is to provide up to 300 of the baskets, each designed to provide a complete dinner for a family of four.
 
Immediately upon hearing of the need, Rotary Club President Liz Meyer proposed the club provide the needed funding. Between Club funds and donations from individual members, Lopez left the meeting with over $1,200 to purchase turkeys and food.
 
Rotarians are further helping out by collecting food on a Thanksgiving Dinner list. Little Church of the desert is providing freezer space at the church for the Turkeys.
 
The Interact club is teaming up with Reach Out Morongo Basin to hand out at least 150 Thanksgiving baskets to families in need. If you need a turkey with all the fixings, you can contact Reach Out Morongo Basin at 760-361-1410 to sign up. The Interact Club will be handing out the Thanksgiving baskets on Saturday, Nov. 19th from noon to 1:30 at Twentynine Palms High School.