Members of the Jefferson Township Community Awareness Group sampled the smoked turkey from Vlasicak’s Meat Market that will be sold as a fundraiser this holiday season. (Leader photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

The Jefferson Township Community Awareness Group has joined forces with Vlasicak’s Meat Market in Cassopolis for its annual fundraiser.

The group usually holds a bake sale in conjunction with the township’s annual clean up. But with fewer people bringing items to be disposed of, the number of baked goods being sold had gone down.

So instead of having the sale this year, the group decided to help make Christmas a bit more memorable and a little easier on the cooks.

The Community Awareness Group is selling lightly smoked (not cured) all natural turkeys for Christmas dinners through Vlasicak’s Meat Market.

Interested parties may order dinners by the plate (minimum of four) for $9.50 or a whole 12-pound smoked turkey for $52.

The turkey dinner includes sliced light and dark meet, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. Ham may be substituted.

You may also order a 20-pound smoked turkey for $74. Stuffing and sides are available for an additional cost.

For $20, members of the Jefferson Township Community Awareness Group will deliver anywhere in Cass County and the Granger area.

Deadline for ordering is Dec. 12. You may call Vlasicak’s Meat Market at 445-8763 to order. Customers must ask for the JTCAG special dinner package. Dinners may be picked up at the market, located on M-62 between Edwardsburg and Cassopolis on Dec. 22 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Dec. 23 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Jefferson Township Community Awareness Group meets once a month at the Jefferson Township Hall. The group has changed from being only a neighborhood watch program to more of a fellowship group according to Jeff Nelson, who leads the JTCAG.

“Over the years we have evolved,” he said. “Five or six years ago, we decided that the purpose of our group was changing and the real value of it was a community awareness group. The fact that we live in a rural community it gives a chance to meet and exchange information and that type of thing. So that’s the real value. And then we take on projects like distributing food baskets.”

The group really showed its true value about a year ago when one member’s house blew up and the neighbor’s also caught on fire and burned down.

“We immediately got with them and gave them checks to go out and buy clothing and the necessities to get by in those first 24 to 48 hours. As a group, we used to have a bake sale every year and it was very successful for a long time. But again, with the number of people coming to the clean up and as those numbers have gone down, so did the volume of the bake sale.”

The idea to sell turkeys for Christmas actually came about through the group’s Thanksgiving dinner.

“For our Thanksgiving dinner we have everyone bring something, but last year we decided to do something different so we went to the Vlasicak’s Meat Market and asked him if he would do a smoked turkey for us. He said yes and everybody who had that dinner was absolutely crazy about it. So this year, I thought this could be an opportunity to work with them because the meat market is here in the township and we thought it would be a win, win situation.”

Nelson added that while the meat market gets plenty of notice during hunting season, this would be a good way to introduce him to a lot of local people.

“We figured it would be a way for us to help each other,” Nelson said.