Thanksgiving is a holiday that most associate with food. Families prepare spreads of delectable offerings and often have leftovers for days.
However, for some, the holiday is a dreaded time because they do not have enough food to feed their family.
“We are sitting down to our tables and enjoying our family and friends and it’s something we take for granted, how nice it feels to be able to gather and be thankful and have something on the table to eat,” said Brandi Herrington, executive director for Starkville Strong, a local nonprofit that operates a food pantry. “I think it is important for us to remember that there are others who aren’t as fortunate.”
Three local organizations, including Starkville Strong, are stepping up to try and feed as many of those people as possible.
There will be food giveaways leading up to Thanksgiving on Nov. 24.
Columbus
The first event scheduled is the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office’s annual turkey drive.
LCSO and the Community Benefit Committee are collecting turkeys through 5 p.m. Friday to give away on Saturday.
“Last year we gave about 1,200 turkeys away,” said Rhonda Sanders, public relations officer for LCSO. “This year we are trying to do the same, but we always say we want to get 1,000 turkeys. If we get 500, we’re satisfied, but we try to get at least 1,000 to give out in the community.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the group had collected 400 turkeys.
“We still need a lot of turkeys,” Sanders added.
Anyone wanting to donate turkeys can drop them off at the sheriff’s office, or monetary donations can be made to the Community Benefit Committee through PayPal, check or Cashapp $Benefitcommunity. Donors must specify the donation is for turkey drive in the memo of the check or online donation.
The giveaway will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Lowndes County Soccer Complex.
Attendees will have to show identification proving they are Lowndes County residents. Each family will receive one turkey.
LCSO is also partnering with United Way of Lowndes and Noxubee to deliver 100 turkeys to elderly and disabled citizens who could not come to the event.
“We are better together,” Sanders said. “We are just asking the community to come together and donate these turkeys.”
Starkville
The Starkville Strong food pantry will be delivering Thanksgiving sacks on Tuesday.
“We have already done our gathering of donations,” Herrington said. “A girl scout troop came out and assembled the sacks for us and an MSU organization came by and took them to our storage unit. We will be delivering them to clients on Nov. 22.”
The group collected enough donations to make up 100 bags, double the original goal.
“Last year we did not get all the donations that we asked for, so this year we said we were only going to try to do 50, but we got enough donations to do 100 Thanksgiving sacks,” Herrington said.
The bags include Thanksgiving staples such as boxes of stuffing, Jiffy mix and canned items such as green beans, potatoes, yams, carrots and hams. The bags will also include turkeys thanks to the Daughters of the American Revolution, Herrington said.
The bags will be delivered to a portion of the clients of Starkville Strong.
“Currently we are working with around 200 Starkville Strong clients,” Herrington said. “Those are people who have done intake meetings with us and follow up meetings with us. So, we just sort of vet the families and take the ones who are in the most need.”
West Point
West Point citizens will also be seeing some added relief this Thanksgiving.
The Project Homestead Food Pantry of Clay County is giving turkeys to each of the 392 families it serves per month as well as the emergency issue clients leading up to Thanksgiving.
“We are able to give a turkey for Thanksgiving along with our regular issuance due to our monetary donations,” said Jane Scott, president for the group.
Clients get certified from 9 to 10 a.m. on Mondays, and they are allowed to pick up once a month for a year.
The handouts are on Tuesday and Thursday four weeks out of the month. The Thanksgiving week handouts will be combined on Tuesday.
The handouts take place in the gym on the Community Counseling Administration Campus.
“It’s such a privilege to do what we do,” Scott said.
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