How did the Capital Area Food Bank impact the lives of people dealing with hunger this Thanksgiving? Read what they had to say:
– “I didn’t know how I was going to afford a Thanksgiving meal.”
– “This donation is a great blessing.”
– “Now my family can sit down together to give our thanks and show our love.”
These are just a few of the responses by clients who received assistance from the food bank and our 700 partner organizations for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thanksgiving was made a little bit brighter for thousands of families thanks in part to the food bank’s direct food distribution programs for seniors and children; and nutritious cooking demonstrations held throughout the community.
Here are some highlights from the 2010 Thanksgiving holiday:
- The food bank received an impressive 170,000 pounds of food over the past month through food drives and individual donations.
- Food for Kids provided 127 holiday boxes to families struggling this holiday season. Eighty-one of those boxes included turkeys.
- Of the 60 Kids Cafe sites, 42 served holiday meals- including turkeys with all the fixings- to the children and families participating in the program. As usual with Kids Cafe sites, they received the food at no cost. In total, over 2,000 children and families enjoyed these holiday meals.
- The food bank’s training school, Agency Achievement Academy, partnered with the Nutrition Education Department to provide the $16 Holiday Food Bag training to train participants on how to prepare nutritious, cost-effective recipes for the holidays for just $16, the minimum allocation for SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps).
- Nutrition Education staff and volunteers conducted holiday cooking demonstrations to teach people how to use ingredients provided by the food bank to create their holiday meals.
- The Volunteer Department welcomed 1,006 volunteers to the food bank throughout the month of November. Many of these volunteers signed up for events through the food bank’s online volunteer calendar.
- WHUR-FM, Giant Food and Suntrust co-sponsored the annual Food2Feed, an event that raises money and collects food donations benefiting the food bank. The event provided over 900 Giant gift cards, which the food bank distributed to clients through its partner organizations to purchase Thanksgiving meals.
The tremendous support of countless donors and volunteers supplied families with not only food; it also provided them fond memories as they gathered around the table to give their thanks.
The food bank’s partner organizations understand that hunger doesn’t observe holidays. The need is greater than ever for families struggling to afford food on a daily basis, with demand increasing 30 to 100 percent for feeding programs throughout the metro region. Click here to find out how you can help during the cold winter season and throughout the year.