It's hard to believe, but Thanksgiving is just one week from Thursday.

For the past several weeks, we've been asking you to donate to the 44th annual KDKA-TV Turkey Fund to ensure that all our neighbors can enjoy a warm Thanksgiving meal.

Now, we would like you to meet two of those neighbors: two grateful Turkey Fund recipients who want to share with you how your donations changed their lives.

"From one day to the next, we don't know what's going to happen to us," said Dorothy Trautman.

Seven years ago, she was a grandmother of seven when her life took an unexpected turn.

Trautman said, "I was a grandma sipping coffee, and the next thing I know, I have custody of four of them."

Trautman suddenly found herself raising four of her grandkids.

"Right now, we have one that's 16 going on 17. We have a 14-year-old, a 10-year-old, and a 7-year-old," she said.

Something she never imagined at her age or on her fixed income.

She added, "We have big appetites in my house with the boys."

For the past five years, Trautman has been coming to the food pantry at the Center for Hope in Ambridge, something she's not embarrassed to admit and says others shouldn't be either.

"You just never know what curveballs life is going to throw at you, quite honestly. You might lose your job and need the food pantry through no fault of your own."

Fellow food pantry client Esmeralda also isn't ashamed to admit that she, her husband, and young daughter have been coming to the Center for Hope regularly for about a year.

"It's OK to admit that you need help. We all need help sometimes in our life," Esmeralda said.

She and her husband both work full-time jobs, but she says it still isn't enough to make ends meet.

"We just need a little extra boost, and I feel like we're not the only people in America right now that are in the same position. Everything has become way more expensive, and it's just been a little bit harder. So, I just need a little help, and this is where I get that help that I need," she said.

Last Thanksgiving, both women received gift cards from the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund.

"That buys the turkey. That feeds a lot of mouths, you know? It would be hard otherwise to have to go out and do that extra expenditure on a nice-sized turkey. And those nice, fond, warm memories at a Thanksgiving table? You can't replace that. And it's not the same if you don't have a turkey, believe it or not," Trautman said.

"It was my first time getting it. When I brought it home, my husband and I were so ecstatic because it gave us a little bit more money to buy something that we hadn't been able to buy in the years before. We just had a great Thanksgiving, and I was really, really grateful," Esmeralda added.

That's why your donations to the Turkey Fund, year after year, are so important.

"The donor doesn't really look in the eyes of hunger. But if you take my word for it, it's very severe here. And those KDKA-TV Turkey Fund cards mean the world to these people," said Sue Otto, the executive director at Center for Hope.

"Please keep giving. It really matters. We see it. We're on the front line," Otto said. "That gives hope. You can go in a store, and you can get a turkey like everybody else in that store. So, you're giving them hope on top of giving them food," she added.

"There's no other place in the United States like the Pittsburgh area. We trust you. We count on you. You're just the best. You're the best. You're the best. You're what Thanksgiving is all about," Otto said.

"You help so many families. Maybe you don't know or understand when you donate. You probably just think, 'I'm just giving a donation,' but here I am telling you that you help a lot of families who really do need it. And you bless a lot of people every year. So, just keep donating because it really helps a lot of people who need it. I'm just very grateful for all the donations everyone has given, and I just want you to really understand how much you helped my family and families like mine," Esmeralda said.

Trautman is also eternally grateful. 

"I can't thank you guys enough. Because without that, I don't know where I'd be, personally. I'm sure [I would be] struggling a lot harder than I am now. We can't thank you enough," she said.

The ultimate "thanks" from two grateful Turkey Fund recipients.

Now is your chance to continue to help thousands of local families this Thanksgiving by donating to the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund.

Go to any PNC Bank and they'll match all donations of $50 or more. You can also text "KDTURKEY" to 50155 or donate at kdka.com/turkeyfund. And we're also still accepting checks. Mail them to "PO Box Thanks, Pittsburgh, PA 15230."

From all of us at KDKA-TV, thank you!