Anyone who’s been to the grocery store lately has been faced with high prices courtesy of record inflation. It’s left many families struggling to put food on the table and having to cut back.
West End Neighborhood House executive director Paul Calistro said no one should have to make that sacrifice —especially around the holidays. To help lessen the burden on those in need, Calistro and over 100 volunteers spent Saturday morning giving out turkeys and other Thanksgiving supplies to 600 families outside the Woodlawn Library in Wilmington.
“This brings some stability to families, but it also gives (volunteers) an opportunity to start their holiday season … in a really meaningful, thankful way,” Calistro said.
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Calistro said he’s seen higher turnout this year than at any of the annual Thanksgiving giveaways West End Neighborhood House has hosted in the past. The Food Bank of Delaware — one of the partner organizations helping with Saturday’s giveaway — has also seen greater need at its monthly food distributions this past week, according to the non-profit’s chief operating officer Trevor Turner.
Turner spent most of Saturday morning unloading boxes of ready-to-cook turkeys from the food bank’s trucks. Then, when a pre-registered family would drive through the distribution area, Turner and other volunteers would place the turkey and reusable shopping bags full of roasting pans, bread and homemade pie into the cars’ trunks.
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“Seeing everybody in the community come together for a good cause really warms my heart,” Turner said.
Cars were already lined up when volunteers arrived to set up operations in the library parking lot at 7 a.m. — an hour before the distribution actually began. And while volunteers like Molly Magarik said they were glad to see people taking advantage of this opportunity, it was also “heartbreaking.”
At the same time, she said “it’s not surprising after three years of a global pandemic and a lot of uncertainty that there’s still a lot of need in the community.”
Magarik, who came to help out Saturday outside of her job as cabinet secretary for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, brought her two 7-year-old daughters to volunteer alongside her.
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“I just want (my daughters) to understand that it takes a community to come together and help people,” Magarik said. “There’s a lot of people across the community that are in need, and it’s each of our responsibilities to come out and help as much as we can.”
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer said the line of families coming to get food Saturday morning was a stark reminder that many Delawareans are struggling economically, and the importance of the community coming together to address that need.
“No one in our community should ever go hungry,” Meyer said. “Especially not during the Thanksgiving or holiday season.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
