If there's ever a time for Montanans to open their hearts it's today, as we enter crunch time for the 28th annual Guerrilla Drive.

The drive, originally launched by the legendary morning radio team of "Craig & Al", aims to help the hungry "one turkey at a time", using a guerrilla warfare approach to make sure everyone has a Thanksgiving meal, and leftovers to last several days. All of the proceeds go to area food banks, the Darby Bread Box, Haven House in Hamilton, Pantry Partners in Stevensville, the Missoula Food Bank, the Mineral County Food Bank in Superior, and Head Start in Missoula.  

Past years have seen a fairly steady pace of donations throughout "Turkey Week", but this year has been hampered by high food costs, especially with most sale prices for turkeys not kicking in until Wednesday.

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We need hundreds of turkeys today

Consequently, the drive is running considerably behind what will be needed to meet the actual numbers needed to help the clients at the various organizations. So much so, that it's estimated we may need an additional 500 turkeys to be delivered before the Friday 5 pm deadline. 

Reno Casino and Bar came through in a big way- Chris Wolfe photo, Townsquare Media
Reno Casino and Bar came through in a big way- Chris Wolfe photo, Townsquare Media
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Having said that, we saw an amazing uptick in both donations of birds and cash on Thursday. At the top of the list was Reno Casino, with arrived with 100 turkeys. The team from the Alberton Cenex station showed up with 21 turkeys, saying it was "happy holiday" wishes from their family to others needing help. 

Alberton Cenex and Jake's Roofing were among the small businesses pitching in- Dennis Bragg photo
Alberton Cenex and Jake's Roofing were among the small businesses pitching in- Dennis Bragg photo
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But just as important have been the individual donations, with many of our friends stopping by with a turkey, or two, or five, all helping to grow the total.

Another bright spot has been the larger-than-usual amount of cash donations, and those are fantastic as well, providing the cash the food banks can use to purchase more food in bulk. We're all accepting donations of non-perishable food items, with all donations going to help Missoula's total in the annual "Can the Cats" food drive ahead of Saturday's "Brawl of the Wild." 

We also want to thank our partners at KPAX TV for helping us to promote the need. 

You can drop our your donations at our studios at 3250 South Reserve, at the Western Montana Lighting building, through 5 this afternoon. 

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