God's pantry kicked off its sharing Thanksgiving Basket Brigade campaign this weekend in Moorhead and in London, volunteers packed a Thanksgiving meal for families in the surrounding counties who are experiencing food insecurity.
Imagine for a moment if you're a family or a senior or someone who doesn't have food to put on the table for Thanksgiving.
And imagine what Thanksgiving would be like if you had no food.
That's why sharing Thanksgiving is so important.
That's why Basket Brigade makes a difference.
This is our 20th anniversary of Best Brigade, and we're so excited to be able to do that here in Moorhead.
This is the second year that we've done Basket Brigade in Rockland County.
Based brigade is about working together and it's about seeding communities.
It brings people closer to the mission.
It brings people closer to those who are experiencing hunger.
I've been working with a food distribution plant in Rockland County for 20 some years, and today was the first time I've ever been able to come up here and do it on this large scale like this.
I do deal a lot with children.
My husband's a teacher at Manatee County, so with him I'm always involved with the kids over there and just see how how it makes an impact on me, on the children.
The USDA just last week released updated statistics that were nationwide in food insecurity.
For those who are living in food insecure households here in central and eastern Kentucky.
It's nearly a quarter of a million, 14.3% of those who live in central and eastern Kentucky experience hunger.
So Central and eastern Kentucky has some of the highest food insecurity in the nation Wolf.
Magoffin and Harlan are three of the 12 most food insecure counties in the nation.
I think we walk around, a lot of us, just oblivious to what's going on around us.
And when you get in what these children are, me personally, when I get in with these children and it's just crazy, the stories you hear and how they all just take the food and they're very organized with it, I guess I should say, in a way, like on how they're going to use it throughout that week because I don't know.
Sometimes if they're going to get safety gear.
The way sharing Thanksgiving works is we go through a registration process leading up to Thanksgiving.
Most of that work happens in September and October, and we identify households through a variety of different means who are in need of food at Thanksgiving here in round County, we will be assembling 800 sharing Thanksgiving food baskets.
300 of those are destined for round county, 200 for Louis County and 300 for Floyd County.
We're also assembling baskets down in Laurel County that will support four counties in that area and next week will assemble baskets in Fayette County that will provide support in that area.
Overall, 7000 food baskets will be built this weekend and next weekend.
It's important for people who are challenged with resources to recognize that the help is there and it's always available because our role is to help people thrive.
So if you need food, ask for help.
Yeah, what a great service.
Last year, the basket brigade gave out 6500 baskets.
So more.
This time God's Pantry said.
Over the past year, it has seen a 20% increase in the number of people asking for emergency food assistance.