GILROY
– Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same, for most families,
without a turkey. There are many in Gilroy who cannot afford the
traditional holiday fare, and local charities are on a quest to
collect hundreds of birds.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – Thanksgiving just wouldn’t be the same, for most families, without a turkey. There are many in Gilroy who cannot afford the traditional holiday fare, and local charities are on a quest to collect hundreds of birds.
At Saint Joseph’s Family Center, Jacqui Merriman has collected two turkeys so far, but expects them to start “flocking” in as Thanksgiving Day nears.
Saint Joseph’s needs donations both for its giveaway of Thanksgiving meal food boxes and for the Lord’s Table, which serves hot meals to those who cannot afford one.
On Nov. 24 and 25, Saint Joseph’s hopes to give out about 600 boxes filled with a complete Thanksgiving feast, but needs donations of food items – particularly turkeys – to make it happen.
“At this moment, I plan to build 623 boxes,” said Merriman, Saint Joseph’s food distribution coordinator.
Demand for regular boxes from Saint Joseph’s is up this year, and Merriman said some Thanksgiving supplies have already been given away.
Second Harvest Food Bank is providing fresh fruit and vegetables. Saint Joseph’s asks that community members donate turkeys and any of the traditional fixings. And donors needn’t worry that extra donations could go to waste.
“Even after Thanksgiving, there are families who will need fruit and vegetables,” Merriman said. “Anything, any food that people wish to donate to Saint Joseph’s at this point would be just welcomed.”
The organization often receives an influx of turkeys when local grocers advertise two-for-one sales just before or after Thanksgiving Day.
Manpower is also needed to put the food boxes together all next week from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Merriman asks that volunteers be able to lift about 25 to 30 pounds.
Donations will be accepted at Saint Joseph’s, located at 7950 Church St.
The Lord’s Table serves hot meals to needy families three times a week year-round and hosts a special Thanksgiving dinner at noon. Any traditional foods are needed, especially stuffing mix, canned yams, brown sugar, cranberries, Italian salad dressing, oil, whipped cream and any fresh vegetables, such as celery.
The Lord’s Table expects to serve 300 to 400 families during this year’s meal, and volunteers are needed to help serve Thanksgiving Day.
Food items, including frozen, fresh or non-perishable, will be accepted at Saint Joseph’s on Church Street.
Dispatch columnist Jenny Midtgaard Derry is conducting her annual Pledge-a-Pie program benefiting the Lord’s Table. Twenty-three pies have been pledged so far and 77 more are needed. To pledge, contact Derry at jd****@****ic.com. Pies will be collected at the Lord’s Table, located in St. Mary School’s gymnasium on Nov. 26 from 3 to 7 p.m.
The Salvation Army of Gilroy is also collecting food, especially chickens and turkeys, to put together 300 food baskets for needy families.
“(People) think the Salvation Army is about just bell ringing,” said Christine Flautt, advisory council chairperson. “But at the Salvation Army here, every day we feed people.”
The organization is also accepting monetary donations or gift certificates so families can purchase food on their own.
Volunteers are needed next week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help pack the food boxes, and on Nov. 24 to distribute them. Donations are accepted at 200 W. Fifth St.
The Salvation Army is already looking toward the Christmas season, when it will need food donations for Christmas dinner, bell-ringers for donation kettles and participants in the Adopt-a-Family for Christmas program.
This weekend, Century 21 Premier Realtors and the Gavilan District of the Boy Scouts of America will be collecting non-perishable food items from Gilroyans’ front doors. Real estate agents are distributing 3,000 grocery bags to local homes and will pick them up between Friday and Sunday. The bags will go to the Lord’s Table. The Boy Scouts will collect canned goods on Saturday from the houses that received a notice last week.
