Hickory high students Jennifer Lightner, Tori Lenzi and Alicia Blystone loaded cans of cranberry sauce and vegetables and bags of stuffing mix into their shopping cart; soon, all of the fixings for a Thanksgiving feast would be delivered to the doors of needy families all across Mercer County.

After making their last-minute purchases, the girls, joined by their fellow classmates, separated the groceries into bags and loaded them, along with sacks of potatoes, pumpkin pies and whole turkeys, into their cars.

"People were really happy to see us," said April Mogor, one of the students whole helped deliver the groceries Saturday morning. "It was rewarding to help make people's Thanksgivings better."

This is the fifth year National Honor Society students from Hickory High School have teamed up with the Mercer County Medical Society and Alliance to make sure needy families across Mercer County have a hot meal for Thanksgiving.

Sisters Mary Cole and Emily Daloni of the society oversaw this year's delivery run. The groceries were delivered to 55 families in Sharon, Greenville and West Middlesex.

"We had a couple of students who were delivering out in the Greenville area who had to be talked through on how to get to the homes," said Mrs. Daloni. "But they got there."

Altogether, the students were able to deliver to all but 10 of the 55 families, she said. They'd all finished up around noon with their deliveries.

While the medical society pays for the turkey and pies, Mrs. Daloni said, the rest of the food is donated to the Alliance, a group made up by the spouses of the doctors.

The Mercer County Medical Society and Alliance have been providing needy families with Thanksgiving meals for eight years now, Mrs. Daloni said. Names of needy families are provided by the Salvation Army.