This Thanksgiving, Alissa McKinney of Des Moines won't be focusing on turkey, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Instead, she will be at the Polk County Convention Complex, overseeing the 25th Anniversary of Blank Children's Hospital's Festival of Trees and Lights.

"Before I became director of development for Blank, I'd never attended the festival," says McKinney, 40. "My daughters, Emma, 12, and Isabel, 9, and I always visited family in Kansas City, had a big Thanksgiving meal, went to the lighting of Country Club Plaza and spent the rest of the weekend shopping. Now I'm still not at home. I spend almost the entire weekend at the festival."

This year, McKinney expects nearly 20,000 children and adults to flock to the event between Nov. 26 and 30 to enjoy 70 brightly decorated trees. Each one is underwritten and decorated by local individuals or groups to benefit the programs and services at Blank. Also on display will be the popular 18-foot Book Tree.

"This is one of Des Moines' most successful philanthropic endeavors," McKinney says. "Not many such events endure let alone flourish as the festival has."

She credits its success to the extraordinary dedication of volunteers. "We have more than 500 volunteers this year and can use even more if anyone wants to call (515) 241-6494," she says.

This year, Ann Cownie who was the first chair of Blank's governing board and who is still on the board is the event's honorary chair. McKinney says it's a source of amusement among festival workers that Cownie, when first told of the fundraising plan in the 1980s, immediately responded, "That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard!"

The event's success has changed Cownie's original opinion, McKinney says.

McKinney praises the staffs of Iowa Health Foundation and Blank Children's Hospital for their help especially Sandy Donohoe, vice president of finance and operations for Iowa Health Foundation, the entity that runs the festival.

"For 22 years, Sandy has put her heart and soul into making the festival a success," McKinney says. "She handles the entire operation of the event and is the reason it always comes off so well."

The festival has been the source of many emotional moments, McKinney says. In 2007, Kathryn, the 5-year-old daughter of Janet Clary-Jones, last year's festival's chairwoman, asked to speak at the kickoff dinner.

"Standing before more than 400 attendees, the tiny child thanked all those who had helped her in her struggle," McKinney says. "It was an emotionally stirring moment for everyone in the room."

Such stories remind McKinney what her sacrifice of a traditional Thanksgiving is all about.

"I do miss being with my daughters, and I miss helping prepare the food," she says. "I always made the rolls, and I was always concocting some new cranberry dish. But the Festival of Trees and Lights helps so many children that the effort more than makes up for the trip out of town on Thanksgiving."