This Thanksgiving, Help Bring Hundreds Of Turkeys To Families In Need

Anna Gustafson -

Throughout the year, tens of thousands of people from our area line up outside CAMBA’s food pantry doors at 2241 Church Avenue – a place that, for decades, has served a growing variety of families, from the working poor to seniors and people whose unemployment benefits have run out, among many others. They – the veterans, the retired teachers, the school children, the young, and the old – wait patiently each month to stock up on the vegetables, bread and many other items at the pantry to make sure they and their families are able to eat in a city where between 1.3 and 1.4 million people live in a household that lacks sufficient food.

And, now, we have the chance to help our neighbors at a time when the presence of hunger can be particularly overwhelming, both emotionally and physically: Thanksgiving.

Last year, our community came together and gave more than $10,400 to the local non-profit CAMBA, which meant they were able to provide a full Thanksgiving meal to hundreds of local families. We think we can do that again, and do it even better.

This year, CAMBA’s Beyond Hunger Emergency Food Pantry — which serves 4,300 people each month at its Church Avenue location — once again aims to bring 500 turkeys to local families this Thanksgiving, and they hope you’ll join them.

CAMBA always gives what they can, but turkeys can stretch a pantry budget to the breaking point. So they’re asking for some help bringing Thanksgiving turkeys to hundreds of families in our community:

  • For $30, you can supply a turkey and all the trimmings for a family of six.
  • For $60, you’ll bring that to two families.
  • For $120, you’ll ensure that four families enjoy a memorable Thanksgiving meal.

When they did this a year ago, support flooded in from neighbors throughout our area, and the “500 Turkeys for 500 Families” drive was a huge success – which showed when, during Thanksgiving week, the line of people waiting for turkeys stretched down Church Avenue – and no one left without a Thanksgiving meal in hand. Let’s make sure that happens again this year. Please give if you can!

Photo via Christian Newton.