It’s the time of year for saying “Thanks”

With the holidays approaching, Allen Community Outreach staff and volunteers are gearing up for a busy season. It is busy in both a good and bad way…it’s good because so many volunteers and donors come out to give their time and their gifts. It’s bad because many families who are barely getting by with the month-to-month expenses have no resources for the extras the holidays require such as Thanksgiving meals and Christmas gifts. So they come to ACO seeking help. They are thankful that ACO is here.

Last year ACO fed more than 800 individuals for Thanksgiving, with the help of donations from the community. Churches and Scout groups stood out in front of local grocery stores and collected donations of canned food items, and families and businesses came in to help sort donated food and boxed it carefully for complete Thanksgiving meals. On distribution day, heavy box after box and turkey after turkey were loaded into cars by volunteers who worked throughout the day.

To all those who purchased a few extra items when you did your own grocery shopping, we say “thanks.”  To our local businesses and organizations who served as collection points in the community to collect food, we say “thanks.” To all of you who made financial donations to benefit the program, we thank you!  And, to volunteers who put in hundreds and hundreds of long hours to prepare the Thanksgiving Food Baskets for these families in need, we can’t say thank you enough!

In October families begin lining up to see an ACO caseworker and fill out the necessary paperwork to qualify for holiday assistance. And in October, volunteers begin signing up for the Thanksgiving Food Basket program, and schedule their time for the workdays required to complete the program in November. Businesses begin to plan their employee efforts to assist ACO with food collections. Churches begin distributing food lists for their collections on Sundays. Schools and children’s groups begin making their plans as well. We hope that you will get an early start too and help us to help families this Thanksgiving.

This year’s Thanksgiving program will again be under the organization and direction of Dede Brewer and the generous help of the First United Methodist Church of Allen for their facilities. Local grocery collections will be Saturday, November 15.

If you are a local grocer and would like to participate, please contact us. And, if you would like to donate your time to distribute shopping lists, and collect donations from shoppers in front of local grocery stores, please let us know.

Volunteer set-up and sorting will be November 10-22. Volunteer help will also be needed on Distribution Day, November 24. For more information to volunteer your time, or to be a collection location, please contact Marjorie Vaneskahian
at 972-727-9131.

This is the time of year to say “thanks” and to be thankful for all that we have, and all that we have to offer our neighbors. Please join us in our Thanksgiving Food Basket Program and Help Feed Families at Thanksgiving By Donating the Following:

          Gift Certificates for Frozen Turkeys
          Canned Ham & Meats
          Bisquick, Corn Meal
          Flour, Sugar, Brown Sugar
          Canned Pie Filling, Pie Crust Mix
          Jello, Pudding Mix
          Canned Veggies, Yams, Marshmallows
          Stuffing Mix, Instant Mashed Potatoes
          Rice, Dried Beans
          Fruit Cocktail, Canned Fruit
          Canned Gravy, Broth, Canned Milk
          Salt, Pepper, Spices
          Foil Pans, Pie Pans