When it comes to Thanksgiving — which is a matter of weeks away — area food pantries are thankful for the 81 turkeys they have on hand, as of this week, but they’re hoping for more.
And the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, which in recent years has emphasized feeding nearly a quarter-million people in Western Massachusetts throughout the rest of the year, is still unsure how many turkeys there will be for families in need. That’s not unusual, according to food bank spokesman Chris Wojcik.
Stop & Shop announced it will be donating $10,800 worth of turkey “gift cards” Monday for the food bank to distribute to its participating agencies.
“We get turkeys donated by individuals, or from organizations if they do a food drive or from large corporations and distributors. As they become available, we will make them available to our agencies.”
Until about three or four years ago, he said, member agencies came together and decided not to buy turkeys because of the lack of adequate freezer space to store lots of turkeys. They advised the Food Bank that, rather than buying turkeys, it would be better to spread out its purchasing power for more people through more of the year than on expensive turkeys for a single holiday.
The trend has also been toward donated gift cards redeemable for turkeys — “We call them ‘flat turkeys,’” Wojcik said.
Last year, the food bank served 211,421 people, 8.5 percent of them in Franklin County and distributed roughly 1 million pounds of food through its Franklin County agencies.
The Center for Self-Reliance in Greenfield did get a shipment of 80 frozen Food Bank turkeys this week, according to Justin Costa, who manages the Osgood Street Center for Community Action. Add that to the one it already had socked away in its freezer.
Last November, the center served 440 households from the Greenfield center, with another 120 at its satellite pantry in Shelburne Falls, said Costa, who was hired this summer to replace longtime manager Dino Schnelle.
“We anticipate providing for them again this year,” said Costa. “I’m hoping we’ll continue to get support for turkey donations that always come every year. We’ve really got our fingers crossed. We get good support from the community.”
The Center for Self-Reliance also plans on stocking its holiday shelf with staple items for Thanksgiving meals: gravy, potatoes, stuffing and more.
Wojack says that the Food Bank is receiving reports from its agencies that they’re not necessarily seeing more people than in the past, but that those who do come in are showing greater need and are coming in more often.
“If they’re food insecure, they’re not as easily able to climb out of it,” he said.