Full Turkey Ahead

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Thanksgiving may be still a week away but here at EECM it’s Full Turkey Ahead and All Turkeys Go. Harvest season is a bountiful time of year and the approaching holidays bring out the charitable in everyone. The result of which is that our Food Pantry is overflowing…which is a good thing because traffic at the Pantry increases dramatically at this time of year. Ordinarily, we see around 20 to 25 families each day. Yesterday, we served 76.

One of the reasons for the extra people is that EECM is a recipient of Turkey Vouchers from Giant Eagle. The vouchers are good for a turkey, ham or chicken at Giant Eagle and we distribute them to our clients. A good-sized bird can feed a family for quite a while and the turkey vouchers are always eagerly anticipated.

But what would a turkey dinner be without the sides? Never fear – East Liberty Presbyterian Church to the rescue! Each year ELPC participates in a Thanksgiving Bag food drive for EECM. At the morning church services, they pass out brown paper grocery bags, to which they have stapled a list of Thanksgiving sides like stovetop stuffing, canned sweet potatoes, jars of gravy, and cornbread mix. The filled bags are then distributed to our clients along with their turkey vouchers and voila, a Thanksgiving Day feast. They even toss in festive holiday napkins. This year, they collected well over 100 Thanksgiving Bags.

And if all that food wasn’t enough, we’re expecting a large feathery donation on Monday – a flock of 50 frozen turkeys. All Turkeys On Deck!