On November 16, pre registered families picked up Thanksgiving baskets with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and other food at the Moana Lane Neighborhood Center, one of several neighborhood pantries operated by Catholic Charities.
This will help many local families who cannot afford a Thanksgiving meal, said CEO Marie Baxter.
“Over the course of this week, we will have about 2,000 families that will come in and they get the full Thanksgiving meal, the turkey and all of the fixings as a way to really help them create a special time for their friends and family,” Baxter said.
This is the second year that Catholic Charities has offered Thanksgiving baskets, she said.
“The Row really stepped up and helped us with purchasing the turkeys, but most of this comes from individual donors that said, ‘look, I want to make sure my neighbors in need have a hot Thanksgiving meal,’” Baxter said.
Diana and her three children were one of several families picking up their Thanksgiving basket.
“It's going to help immensely. A full Thanksgiving dinner can be pretty expensive. So this takes a huge load off of our shoulders,” she said.
On November 23 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Nugget will provide a free Thanksgiving dinner to those in need at St. Vincent’s Dining Room. No registration is required.
And for Christmas, the nonprofit will be creating stockings for families, passing out gifts through Toys for Tots, and hosting a similar Christmas meal basket program.
KUNR’s Jose Davila IV contributed to this report.
