Every year as Thanksgiving approaches, it is inspiring and encouraging to follow the efforts of the many individuals and groups who labor to ensure that the holiday will be a bountiful one for those in need.
As before, churches, pantries and others this year are working hard to gather provisions and set places around holiday tables. But this year the appeals are more urgent because the need is so much greater.
Every organization involved in good works could point to its own example of today’s hardships. A striking case is the crisis facing the Sanford branch of the Salvation Army, which made an urgent appeal when it discovered it could not obtain the hundreds of turkeys it was counting on.
It seems likely that the Salvation Army will be able to get the 50 turkeys it still needs for the Thanksgiving baskets it distributes, and that it will eventually stockpile the 150 birds it needs for Christmas. This kind of crisis inspires spontaneous generosity.
The larger problems is that the supply lines that Good Samaritans and those in need rely on are stretched. The turkey shortage arose at the Good Shepherd Food-Bank in Lewiston, which distributes millions of pounds of food throughout Maine each year.
Last year the regional food bank distributed about 5,000 Thanksgiving turkeys. This year, the food bank says it ran out after distributing 10,000 birds, and is seeking more from suppliers.
The Good Shepherd Food-Bank’s online site (http://gsfb.org) takes note of current USDA figures reporting that 49 million Americans are food-insecure, an increase of 36 percent over last year. The organization estimates that 175,000 Mainers (13.3 percent of the population) are food insecure; yet even these statistics fail to convey a true picture of the complicated hardships facing many today.
The diverse network of support is doing all it can to make the holiday season brighter for those who are in need. Still, this is a difficult year, and to ensure their success, the food drives and appeals for donations need our attention even more than before.
Gathering and distributing food is both labor-intensive and expensive, and the pantries and other helpful groups would no doubt welcome wider support. At a time when many are out of work, and many others find their resources at a low point, those who are in a position to help should realize that their contributions can make a big difference.
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