By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
Jessica Miller usually isn’t at a loss for words.
Thursday, she struggled.
“I’m speechless in the very best way,” the CEO of Gingerbread House told supporters at Chevyland in Shreveport. “A donation like this makes such an impact on the kids we serve.”
Turkey Fry Guys — a group of local volunteers — presented Miller a check for $150,000. The six-figure donation was the fruit of two events leading up to Thanksgiving 2023. Turkey Fry Guys held a party/silent auction, and deep-fried 1,000 turkeys which were sold to the public, some of who donated their turkeys to various organizations.
“It’s shocking the number of people we actually touched and helped throughout this whole event,” said Mark Harrison, owner of House of Carpets and Lighting. Harrison and his family owned and operated business is heavily involved in Turkey Fry Guys. “I love it.”
Gingerbread House provides support to children who are victims of abuse. That can be anything from sexual abuse, to being a witness to a violent crime, to being a witness of domestic violence.
“Over 910 children walked through our doors in 2023.” Miller said. “That’s about 76 newly identified child victims every single month. Every service they receive, from that initial forensic interview, to counseling as long as they need it, is offered free of charge, so that the family doesn’t have to worry about how they will pay that bill.”
Thursday’s donation came when Gingerbread House needed it most.
“Between October 1st of last year and September 30th of this year, we will receive about a $140,000 cut from the federal government through the Victims of Crimes Act. This could not come at a better time. That money — that hole in our budget — is being made up through this. This means we don’t have to shut the doors on any additional clients. If we get requests from additional parishes, we can serve them.”
Turkey Fry Guys’ first donation to Gingerbread House ($80,000) came last year, as a result of their party/silent auction, and frying 500 turkeys in 2022. The decision to help Gingerbread House came after the wife of Corey Craft, a member of Turkey Fry Guys, heard first-hand stories of child victims of abuse.
“My wife was on grand jury duty for six months. She heard some cases that Gingerbread House was involved in. Just hearing the stories of how (Gingerbread House) impacted the cases, and how they were able to help the kids through the process, was very impactful. We started doing our research on the Gingerbread House and learning more about what they do. Come to find out, a lot of people were in the same boat I was. I knew of Gingerbread House, but I had no idea what they did for our community and the kids.”
Thursday, Turkey Fry Guys announced Gingerbread House will again be the recipient of a donation in 2025. Turkey Fry Guys has set an even higher goal for this Thanksgiving.
“We’re going to move it up another level to frying 1,500 birds in one day,” Craft said. “Wrap your head around that!”
And Taylor Swift fans may have a particular interest in this year’s pre-frying event.
“Our silent auction is getting to be pretty wild,” Craft said. “Some things that have been sent to us out of the blue — we’ve got some Super Bowl champion stuff, and maybe a guitar from one of (the Kansas City Chiefs’) girlfriends.”
This year’s Turkey Fry Guys’ events will be November 22nd and 23rd — the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com.