#4kTurkey Aims For 30k Pounds of Food For Stewpot | Community Spirit

A brown paper bag was the catalyst. And now four Jackson friends are teaming up to help Stewpot Community Services for Thanksgiving.

The effort, dubbed #4kTurkey, aims to collect $4,000 for families in need. Eddie Outlaw, co-owner of William Wallace Salon in Fondren, said the idea came to him after receiving Millsaps College’s “Pantry Raid” solicitation. “I got my brown paper bag from Millsaps and it clicked,” he says. “I thought it would be the quickest, easiest way to help, so we came up with a number.”

That number – $4,000 – equates to 30,000 pounds of food. According to Outlaw, Stewpot says $20 buys 150 pounds of food. “If 200 people donate $20, that’s our goal,” he tells us. But, the number could be much higher. “Through various outlets, we think it’ll cause a frenzy. We’re hoping – like last year (at Christmas) – that lots of people giving small amounts can do a big thing.”

$4,000 is $1,000 more than Outlaw and his friends, Lori Garrott, Mike Smith and Stacy Sphieler, helped raise to be layaway Santas last Christmas. “As soon as we finished last year, we were so excited and high on it,” Outlaw explains. “We talked then about doing something this year for Thanksgiving, too.”

Read more and how you can give at finditinFondren.com.