Fairfield Food Pantry to distribute 500 Thanksgiving meals

The organization is asking groups of individuals to fill paper bags with the items below and return them to designation drop-off spots by Nov. 15. The bags and turkeys would be distributed from noon to 3 p.m., Nov. 22, at the Fairfield Food Pantry, 78 Donald Drive.

Items to fill bags with:

“It’s a community outreach effort to feed 500 families,’’ said John Wagner, Fairfield resident, founder, and chief executive officer of the non-profit Be The Change Ohio.

“We’re asking for the fixings to go with the turkeys. We want to bring awareness to the need and hope the community can support the pantry all year long.”

Besides the bags of food, Be The Change is asking for cash donations or extra items to fill the shelves of the food pantry.

The effort is coming at a particularly good time with the government shut down, said Terry Perdue, executive director of the Shared Harvest Foodbank, which supplies food to 55 foodbanks in five counties.

Recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP – have begun getting notices that their benefits are like to be cut off at the end of the month.

“We are fully expecting in the next two weeks or so to fully deplete our resources,” Perdue said. “There will be an insurmountable number of people who are going to turn to our food pantries for help.”

Typically, SNAP recipients deplete their benefits within the first two weeks of receiving them. Already, they are turning to the foodbanks for help, Perdue said.

When Shared Harvest’s 35,000 square foot warehouse in Fairfield is full of food, it usually takes three months to deplete, Perdue said.

“Even when the government opens back up, we will have depleted our 3-month supply,” Perdue said.

“We’ll have to purchase food and spend a minimum of $1 million to do so. Come November there won’t be any resources at all.”

Another concern is formula provided to mothers through the Women, Infants and Children – WIC – program.

“Mothers who won’t be able to access formula for their babies will try to stretch the formula by diluting it, which is not nutritionally sound,’’ Perdue said.

He said Feeding America – which Shared Harvest is affiliated with – is contacting manufacturers to see if they can help fill the gap.

“This is a great effort – there is no qualifying in any way. Show up and get a free turkey and fixings for a meal,’’ said Bill Woeste, vice president of the Fairfield Food Pantry’s board of trustees.

Porch pick-ups of donated items are available by calling or texting 513-374-6408. Cash donations can be mailed to or dropped off at the Fairfield Food Pantry, 78 Donald Dr., Fairfield, OH 45014

Bags of food for the drive can be dropped off at the following locations through Nov. 15: