It’s hard not to think about those who are hungry or food insecure at a time like this. After all, Thanksgiving is about as synonymous with eating as it is with giving thanks. Friends and family travel far and wide to gather around a cornucopia of homemade splendor and celebrate the season with those they love.
And it’s precisely because of this abundance, not in spite of it, that we pause to remember the less fortunate and re-commit ourselves to helping them on this feast day … and every day. We know there’s plenty of food to go around, and we want every family to share in the bounty.
On Thanksgiving especially, feeding those at risk of hunger or helping a family in need put a healthy meal on the table not only fills stomachs, it nourishes spirits, too.
That’s why we see so many stories of donated turkeys with all the fixings. Food drives fill boxes. Donation cans overflow. Volunteers leave home and head to their local soup kitchens, food pantries and church basements to serve their neighbors in need. Days of service replace days on the couch. And even more acts of charity go unreported and unnoticed.
But it all has the same effect: We envision, even if for just one day, that everyone is doing the exact same thing on Thanksgiving Day … that very normal thing of sitting down at the dinner table with enough food to make a meal and celebrate with those they love.
And we hope … we hope that every day can be like Thanksgiving, for everyone, always.
On behalf of Hunger-Free Pennsylvania, we thank you for all of your charity and support this year and every year, and wish you a joyous, bountiful Thanksgiving Day, from our family to yours. Thank you.
Sheila Christopher, Executive Director
Hunger-Free Pennsylvania