SCRANTON – Thousands of people throughout the greater Scranton area will have a warm meal this Thanksgiving in their own homes thanks to the generosity of their neighbors.
On Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, volunteers with the Family-to-Family Food Basket Program handed out hundreds of food bags outside the Scranton Cultural Center beginning at 9 a.m.
“It has been a very busy day so far, but everything is going very, very well,” Linda Robeson, Director, Family to Family, explained.
Families were provided all of the grocery items needed to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal, include a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, yams, and even pie.
“This is a full community effort,” Robeson explained.
Hundreds of volunteers from local schools and corporations volunteer to assemble all of the food bags and distribute them via “drive thru” or “walk up.”
“If we didn’t have the kids here, we’d never get this done,” Robeson added.
The Family-to-Family Program was prepared to serve 3,500 families and still needs help to raise the $250,000 to cover the food bill.
“We realize it’s a very tough time of year for everybody, but we have 30 days to pay the bill and then we have Christmas coming up so we’re still accepting donations. Any amount will help. If you can only afford five dollars, we are eternally grateful for that,” Robeson said.
Donations of any amount help toward the $250,000 goal, and can be mailed to Family to Family, P.O. Box 13, Scranton, PA 18503, or given online at friendsofthepoorscranton.com.
The Family-to-Family Food Basket Program followed the annual Thanksgiving Dinner of Adults and Elderly which was held on Tuesday at the Scranton Cultural Center. For the fourth year in a row, warm Thanksgiving meals were distributed take-out style from in front of the Scranton Cultural Center as well.