Please help Give Thanks

When you gather with family and friends to give thanks this year, will there be food on the table? Sounds like a ridiculous question, but for many local families, it is not.

Last year, Midwest Food Bank Bloomington-Normal partnered with Home Sweet Home Ministries to provide 2,200 Thanksgiving meal boxes to local families through the Give Thanks program. This year, Thrivent Financial has joined Midwest Food Bank and Home Sweet Home Ministries with the goal of providing 2,500 boxes. Boxes include ingredients to make stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. A frozen turkey accompanies each box. The boxes will be distributed the Saturday and Monday before Thanksgiving at Midwest Food Bank's location in Normal.

This amazing distribution could not happen without the generous support of the Bloomington-Normal area community and an army of volunteers. This year, 18 area churches and 106 Thrivent Action Teams collected all the non-perishables needed to fill each box. Turkeys are still needed, and buying a turkey card is quick and convenient. Stop by a Schnuck's or Hy-Vee grocery store, in Bloomington-Normal, or the FS Farmtown gas station on Morrisey to purchase a turkey card at $15 which will provide a frozen turkey to complete a meal box. Financial donations for the purchase of turkeys are also accepted at Midwest Food Bank 2301 Warehouse Road, Normal (or donate online here), or Home Sweet Home Ministries 303 E. Oakland Avenue, Bloomington.