For many, Thanksgiving is all about consuming heaping plates of turkey and side dishes while kicking back with family and friends. But it’s not such a relaxed and rosy occasion for everyone. With food insecurity at record highs in Pennsylvania, and funding for critical benefits like SNAP vanishing before our eyes, the holidays can become a major stressor.
The Thanksgiving celebration of abundance, marked by second helpings and leftovers aplenty, sits in stark contrast to a widespread crisis of hunger in the Commonwealth and beyond. One in eight Pennsylvanians face hunger and over two million rely on SNAP benefits to purchase the food they need. You may be wondering how to support neighbors for whom the annual Thanksgiving feast feels out of reach. By networking and sharing our time and resources, we can help more households enjoy this special tradition.
Joining a holiday food drive is a truly impactful way to support your community. Drives put food on more tables by tapping into existing community organizations, and can always use funds, food and manpower to reach as many people as possible.
If you’re able to spend time food shopping, you might wish to donate food or a a ready-to-go Thanksgiving meal basket. These are typically itemized for you, making them a cinch to compile. Commonly needed items are non-perishables, like boxed stuffing and potatoes, gravy mix, cranberry sauce, canned veggies, cream of mushroom soup and muffin/biscuit mix. Turkeys are sometimes accepted, fresh or frozen, and sometimes handled through gift cards to select vendors that you can provide for families to buy their own birds.
Here are some options for donating food throughout PA:
- Philly: Phil-A-Trunk with WMMR and Thanksgiving Meal Distribution with Philabundance
- Philly ‘Burbs: Annual Giving Baskets with Kindness Between Friends (Bucks County), Thanksgiving Food Drive with Montgomery County Health &. Human Services and Thanksgiving Outreach Turkey Drive with Villanova University (Delaware and Montgomery counties)
- Lehigh Valley & NEPA: Thanksgiving Food Basket Drive with The Neighborhood Center (Northampton County), Turkey Drive with Casa Guadalupe (Lehigh County) and Feed-A-Friend Food Basket Program with United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern PA (Lackawanna County)
United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania
- Central PA: Thanksgiving Meal Kits by Salvation Army Harrisburg (Dauphin County)
- Greater PGH: Donate Food to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (Allegheny County)
- Northwestern PA: Thanksgiving Basket Outreach with City Rescue Mission (Lawrence County) and Erie News Now Food Drive with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania (Crawford, Erie, McKean and Warren counties)
During this busy time of year, you might find it easiest to donate financially with a few clicks or writing a check. And, guess what? That’s often the best way to contribute, allowing organizers to target inventory needs and utilize their access to wholesale discounts. You don’t need to live close to any of these drives to donate, but we’ve organized them by location for your reference:
- Philly: Annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution with New Kensington Community Development Corporation and Prepare a Plate with Philly House (Philadelphia County)
- Philly ‘Burbs: Donate to Chester County Food Bank (Chester County)
- Lehigh Valley & NEPA: Thanksgiving Project with Commission on Economic Opportunity (Luzerne County) and Feed-A-Friend Thanksgiving with University of Scranton and United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania (Lackawanna County)
- Central PA: Make Thanksgiving Brighter with Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (Dauphin County) and Thanksgiving Meals with Water Street Mission (Lancaster County)
- Greater PGH: Thanksgiving Dinner Boxes with Light of Life Rescue Mission (Allegheny County)
- Northwestern PA: Erie News Now Food Drive with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania (Crawford, Erie, McKean and Warren counties)
Manpower is another big way to assist around the holidays. You can sign up for a variety of tasks that connect donated food with family, including reception, sorting, cooking, packing, distribution and delivery. This kind of work is highly rewarding, bringing you into community with volunteers and neighbors. Just find a shift that works with your schedule and get to work!
- Philly: Turkey Tailgate and Thanksgiving Day volunteering with Operation Turkey (Greater Philadelphia) and Pie in the Sky distribution with Manna (Philadelphia County)
- Philly ‘Burbs: Thanksgiving Outreach Turkey Drive with Villanova University (Delaware and Montgomery counties)
- Lehigh Valley & NEPA: Thanksgiving Dinner Final Prep and Distribution and Family to Family Thanksgiving Food Basket Program with Friends of the Poor (Lackawanna County)
- Central PA: Holiday Basket Phone Registration Volunteers with Lancaster County Project for the Needy (Lancaster County), Volunteer at York County Food Bank (York County) and Volunteer at Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (Lycoming County)
- Greater PGH: Packing Thanksgiving Meal Boxes with VolunTOTs (Butler County) and Yinzgiving Meal Prep + Delivery with BYWC (Allegheny County)
- Northwestern PA: Volunteer with City Rescue Mission (Lawrence County)
Beyond organized food drives, you can help people experiencing hunger by stocking a local community fridge. Though these are most common in urban areas like Philadelphia, those elsewhere can check out Freedge to see if there’s one near you.
Turkey Trots benefitting food banks are a nice way to burn off T-day calories while helping others. The York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K (York County) accepts donations for Catholic Harvest Food Pantry, all Stone Hill Meadows Turkey Trot (Lehigh County) proceeds go to the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley, the Millersville Turkey Trot (Lancaster County) donates to local food banks and the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh Turkey Trot (Allegheny County) supports the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
MANNA launches its signature Pie in the Sky fundraiser
You can also do good by eating dessert with MANNA’s Pie in the Sky fundraiser, which benefits neighbors with critical illnesses in the Greater Philadelphia area. MANNA is a major provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition education and uses the funds from pie sales to support its programming. Those near Philly can participate by purchasing a pie online and selecting a site for Thanksgiving week pick up. Options include apple, pumpkin, pecan and berry pies or a decadent cheesecake, and you can add a donated pie to your cart to be included in a charitable Thanksgiving meal distribution.
Finally, Nourish PA offers creative and accessible recipes using ingredients commonly distributed through food banks. These allow more people to make the holidays delicious with turkey and turkey substitutes, sides, desserts and more. Please share The Nourish PA Thanksgiving Recipe Collection and printable flyer with any folks or organizations who may be able to use it!
- Feature photo: United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania
- Photos 1, 4: Bigstock
- All other photos: Courtesy of the respective organizations
