ACO’s Holiday Food Drive & Distribution
Each year our Food Pantry provides bags of groceries for hundreds of families to take home and prepare a traditional holiday meal. We also partner with hundreds of donors who “adopt” a child (age 0-18) and buy clothing and shoes for Christmas gifts.
Our amazing donors did it again this past holiday season! More than 200 volunteers came together to collect, sort and distribute bags of food to families in need. A total of 720 holiday bags of food were assembled for the November 18 Thanksgiving Food Distribution, and again on December 15 and 20 for Christmas time distribution in Allen and in Branch.
It was a big operation as it took hundreds of hands and caring hearts that came together to help our neighbors facing financial crisis. The sight of volunteers and donors coming together to give their time, money, food and clothing was the best testimony of what Thanksgiving and Christmas really mean. Neighbors helping neighbors.
On the giving end, throughout the Holiday Food Drive, there were more than 200 donors and volunteers, and many mentioned being beyond joyful to be able to help. On the receiving end, on November 18, 224 families received Thanksgiving bags of food and turkey gift cards. On December 15 and 20, 255 families in the Allen area and 222 families in the Branch area experiencing financial hardships also received Christmas bags of food. These families did not really know who those volunteers were, but they felt comforted and cared for by kind strangers.
In addition to Holiday Food, ACO also offers the annual Christmas Adoption Program, which matched donors with a total of 580 children and teens who received new winter clothing items and shoes as Christmas gifts. A huge thank you to our caring donors! At the end, everyone involved saw the SPIRIT OF GIVING SEASON firsthand at its best!
Thank you everyone who was involved to make the 2017 Holiday Season so special to so many in need. Our staff and board of directors are VERY grateful for your generous support!
