MOOSEHEART, IL - Thanksgiving is a time for coming together with your family and friends, for festive fun, for food - wonderfully scrumptious food.

All of those elements exist at Mooseheart, where the children who remained on campus for the holiday wholeheartedly celebrated Thanksgiving on Nov. 27.

This year, eight of the 10 girls who usually live in Oregon Home spent their holiday with two girls moved over from other homes. They watched parades, played games, laughed a lot and ate plenty of turkey and other usual Thanksgiving table fare.

While they did all this, some of the girls spoke about their experiences spending this most family-oriented holiday at Mooseheart and also about the fraternity that makes all days on campus possible.

Amber Chandler is a sophomore in high school who has been at Mooseheart for eight years. Sponsored by Greenfield, MA Lodge 997, 2008 marked her first Thanksgiving spent on campus.

"It's been fun," Chandler said. "I really enjoyed it. It's like a family setting. I know my family's doing it right now in Moose Lake Estates with my aunt. But I felt like since I've been here for so long, I should have a Thanksgiving here. This is my family too and I've never spent Thanksgiving with them, so I felt that I should."

Chandler said her first Thanksgiving at Mooseheart would be a memorable one.

"I have enjoyed it," Chandler said. "We had family games like "Apples to Apples" and earlier, we came in and enjoyed the parade and just being together. It's more family-oriented because we're all here together today. Normally, we're all scattered doing our different things during the week. Today, we're all here."

Chandler has some specific things for which she was thankful.  "I'm thankful for my family and being able to be here and to be taken care of," Chandler said.

And she was certainly thankful for the Moose.

"It means a lot to me," Chandler said. "If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have the great opportunity to have a scholarship and to go to college. There are really no words for it. I'm so thankful for them."

Meagan Henderson is a high school freshman at Mooseheart. She arrived on campus on Jan. 23 and is sponsored by Oil City, PA Lodge 78 and was spending her first Thanksgiving on campus in November.

"I've really enjoyed it," Henderson said. "I've gotten to be with people who love me and care for me. It is interesting to see all the cultures in the house pitching in to add things to our celebration with things that they do at home."

Henderson said the Thanksgiving meal made her very full and listed "Mooseheart" at the top of her things for which she was thankful.

"It's a very wonderful place for kids to come," Henderson said. "I'm also very thankful for all the Family Teachers and all the Moose members who put their hearts into us. They support us and I'm thankful for that. It all shows us that we have people who love us and care for us."

Addy LaBlance is one of three Canadian students currently sponsored at Mooseheart. She is sponsored by Sault Ste. Marie, ON Lodge 535 and will graduate from Mooseheart as part of the Class of 2009. She has been on campus for three years and has spent each Thanksgiving at Mooseheart.

"This is like a family for me," LaBlance said. "Not being at home, this gives me a sense of belonging, being here with the girls. They are my sisters. This being my last Thanksgiving with them is going to be a little hard."

Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving in October; in 2008, it fell on Oct. 13. LaBlance said the sense of family togetherness exists in celebrations on both sides of the border.

"It's not that much different from what we'd do at home," LaBlance said. "They are both my families and you eat with your family."

LaBlance contributed the mashed potatoes to the Oregon Home feast and had her own list of things for which she was thankful.

"I am thankful that I'm a senior because I'm going to go on and move on in life," LaBlance said. "It's not that I don't like Mooseheart. I love Mooseheart and I'm thankful that I have it in my life. But I get to prepare myself to be somebody in the world and to go and start my own Thanksgiving traditions in my own life."

And as with the other girls spending their Thanksgiving at Oregon Home, LaBlance had some kind words to pass on to the Moose fraternity.

"The Moose has done a lot for me," LaBlance said. "They have been so generous to me. I know that they care about me. They're like my big family and I love it because there are so many people I haven't known who know me."

Kristin Thornburg is a junior at Mooseheart and is sponsored by Medina Valley, TX Lodge 2196. She has been at Mooseheart since 2005 -- but this year was her first Thanksgiving spent on campus.

"It's fun," Thornburg said. "I love spending time with them and relaxing."

Thornburg enjoyed the meal greatly and said she was also looking forward to the trip later in the day to Pennsylvania Home, where all children on campus were going to get together and share their desserts.

Thornburg's thankfulness for Mooseheart originated in the sense that, "it's given me a chance to start over. I'm thankful that I get to meet the people that I meet today. It's different from home, where I probably wouldn't be doing as much."

Thornburg grew up in a Moose family and is aware of the good the fraternity does both with Mooseheart and Moosehaven as well as in the communities around North America.

"I know how they work to raise money to help people and I think they do a great job and they are a big part in what we do here. I'm grateful for that," Thornburg said.

Cortney Heston is a freshman at Mooseheart who has been on campus for eight years. Sponsored by Leesburg, FL Lodge 1271.

"It has been an experience being at Mooseheart and learning all that I have," Heston said. "I have nephews who just came here and seeing how much they've changed in just the few days they've been here is incredible. Mooseheart's just the best place I could have been."

Heston's nephews are 5-year old Ukiah Michael Shrimplin and 3-year old Trace Lee Shrimplin, who both arrived this fall and are sponsored by Colonial City, OH Lodge 2555.

Heston has spent all but one of her Thanksgivings at Mooseheart since her arrival on campus. And on that day, in 2007, she said she missed spending the holiday with her Mooseheart family. She fully enjoyed her time in Oregon Home in 2008.

"I didn't realize how much I would miss this," Heston said. "It's fun to spend time with kids your age and to cook and to do games and puzzles and to just have fun."

Heston said she got to do a little stirring and to add a little seasoning to a meal she said she certainly enjoyed eating. And she had plenty to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving afternoon.

"First, I'm thankful for Mooseheart and how much they've given me and how much they've changed me," Heston said. "If I wouldn't have been here, I wouldn't be at the level I am today. I know I wouldn't read as much as I do."

Heston has visited Lodges in Louisiana, Ohio and Florida and said loves meeting fraternity members when she gets the chance.

"I think there are still some people in Moose Lodges who don't know what they're giving to," Heston said. "I love going and explaining it to them and seeing their faces brighten up, to know that they're actually giving to someone and not just giving their money to something unknown."

Hannah and Randy Rigg normally have off on Thursday and Friday, but requested to work Thanksgiving.  "We wanted to spend it with the kids," Hannah Rigg said. "I'm glad we did. It was a good choice."

Rigg said she spent time finding the Thanksgiving traditions familiar to the Oregon Home girls.  "We had a lot of the girls cook, so they had ownership of what we had in the meal," Rigg said. "That was really exciting, to see them get into it. I get to see what's special to them and what I might want to carry as traditions into my own family as well."

Rigg said she enjoyed the chance to play card games with the girls and to spend a day where the routine was holiday-based.

"You get to change up the routine out of what might be the daily monotony for the girls," Rigg said. "And they get to see us in a different way, more relaxed too."

Rigg's thankfulness started with the food on her table.  "We're blessed," Rigg said. "There are so many places that don't have food this Thanksgiving or at other times in the year. We have food, clothing and shelter thanks to Moose Lodges all over the country and it's such a blessing."

Finally, Rigg said she is thankful for each individual Moose member.  "They give so much to a place they don't get to see very often," she said. "It just amazes me that they have a heart for that. I love to see this organization that gives so much to the communities it is in, because a lot of people don't see that. They are making life-long changes in these kids' lives."

Mooseheart Child City & School is a 1,000-acre community and school for children and teens in need of a secure home, located just south of Batavia, IL, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road.

Founded in 1913, Mooseheart is supported completely through private donations - the great majority of which come from the 1.1 million men and women of the Moose fraternal organization, in more than 1,900 Lodges and 1,600 Chapters located throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose International headquarters is located on the Mooseheart campus.

Since its founding, Mooseheart has operated a complete, accredited kindergarten-through-high-school academic program, plus art, music, vocational training and interscholastic sports. It is an extremely nurturing and student-tailored program, with an average student-teacher ratio of 12-1.

Mooseheart students who complete their studies with a 3.0 GPA or better (4.0=A) are eligible for up to five years of annually renewable scholarship funding, covering tuition, room and board in an amount comparable to that required for an in-state student at an Illinois public university.

Mooseheart is currently home to nearly 250 students, ranging in age from preschoolers to high school seniors. Applications for admission to Mooseheart are considered from any family whose children are, for whatever reason, lacking a stable home environment. Mooseheart boasts its own U.S. Post Office and a fully functioning branch of Fifth Third Bank.

In addition to Mooseheart, Moose International also supports Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community near Jacksonville, FL founded in 1922; and conducts more than $90 million worth of community service programs annually.

Founded in 1888, the Moose organization has long offered its members an opportunity to do good for others while celebrating life, with family, social, and sporting activities. For more information on the Moose organization, visit the websites at www.Mooseintl.org, www.Mooseheart.org, www.Moosehaven.org and www.MooseCharities.org, or call 630-966-2229.