Chum prepares for their annual Thanksgiving dinner giveaway

The holiday season is a time of joy for most people. Although for some low-income families, it can be very stressful having enough money for a Thanksgiving dinner. However, Chum has prepared 300 boxes of Thanksgiving meals to help hundreds in the Twin Ports.

Prices at the grocery store are still making it difficult for families to have a full Thanksgiving dinner for the holidays. Thankfully community members and volunteers at Chum have been preparing thanksgiving meals for people in need.

Lynn Shubitz has volunteered at Chum for well over a decade. She says anyone can take a few hours out of their week to lend a hand at the food shelf to help families in need.

“I retired in 2010 and I knew I had to do something in the community. The profession that I was in, I worked with this population and I wanted to stay involved with it,” Shubitz said. “But we do hear so often. Thank you God bless you. This program is important.”

Shubitz says she and other volunteers have helped with the annual thanksgiving dinner giveaway for well over a decade. Chum’s newest Director of Distributive Services, April Ledoux says they will be able to hand out 300 thanksgiving boxes based off the money they raised earlier this year.

“I would probably say we probably spent a little close to twelve thousand dollars this year. And that’s what turkeys and boxes, we’re spending money for the boxes, the turkeys, everything going in it unless it’s something that we’re able to get as a donation.”

Just the sheer number of food packed into all 300 boxes for families wouldn’t be possible without help from volunteers. Ledoux says the volunteers are the ones who make the thanksgiving dinners possible for hundreds of families.

“They are our rock stars. They’re the ones who hold it down for us. If we didn’t have them, we would be totally lost,” Ledoux said. “These guys put their heart and soul into it and they’re here with no questions asked. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to function properly.”

Chum is also asking for food donations to keep up their food shelf stocked. Some recommended donations are cereal, soup and gluten-free food. Just make sure to check the expiration dates before donating.

For more information about the Chum Food Shelf you can read more here. Also for other stories happening with Chum you can read more here.