by Martha Rose Woodward

Sunspherebook@aol.com

Twin sisters, Helen Ashe and Ellen Turner, founders of the Love Kitchen, were on hand on Thursday, January 19 to accept donations of 2,500 pounds of food and $2,582 in cash presented by Mayor Tim Burchett and Knox County Parks and Recreation Director Doug Bataille. The reaction of the 87 year old sisters to the donations could only be described as gleeful. Ashe and Turner hugged the mayor, the director and all other workers they could as they said repeatedly, “Thank you, thank you.”

At one point, Helen Ashe ask members of the news media to let her give a comment and when everyone had quieted down, she said, “We just want to thank each of you. Each person who had anything to do with this, please know that we just thank you, thank you. Every bit of this food and the money will be spent to help the homeless, the helpless, the handicapped, the hungry and hopeless. We promise this will go to the people who need it the most.”

The donations were made available through the Holiday Festival of Lights Celebration that was held last December at The Cove at Concord Park. The free event presented by the Parks and Recreation Department was a time when visitors are treated to a light show as they drove through the park. Those who attended the light show were encouraged to donate boxed or canned food and cash was also accepted. Doug Bataille said that this year’s giving topped that from years before and he was so pleased to see the outpour of support for the Love Kitchen.

Mayor Burchett arrived holding a stack of cash and was quickly hugged by the sisters who surrounded him while also talking a mile a minute. The mayor asked them for a kiss on his cheek and, at one point, even twirled Helen around on the floor as he said he felt like dancing. Ellen continued to remind the mayor that she is 5 minutes older than her sister, Helen.

Mayor Burchett was clear that the donations came about from the labor of the staff at the Parks and Recreation Department as well as from the generosity of the public. “I am the one who gets to have all the fun of bringing these donations to the Love Kitchen,” Burchett said. “However, it is the find staff that deserves the credit, and the citizens who are always so willing to help others. Helen and Ellen are a national treasure and it is always a delight to spend time with them.”