It’s just a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving and volunteers will soon be putting food baskets together at Bremerton Foodline. But there’s still time to help out.
“We’re preparing to hand out lots of baskets for this Thanksgiving,” said Patti Peterson, executive director of Bremerton Foodline. “We have 536 households signed up to get a basket on Nov. 23 or 24. And we’ll give out another 130 baskets to clients at our partner agency – Kitsap Mental Health and Kitsap County Public Health. Most of them are shut-ins.”
That means volunteers will assemble 666 baskets, plus another 50 to 75 to hand out to walk-in clients on Nov. 25, who failed to sign to for a basket. The baskets will be assembled on Nov. 22. More than 150 volunteers have signed up to help.
Baskets are prepared for one to two people, two to eight people, and for families of more than eight. There will be whole chickens, hams, or turkey roasts in the baskets for less than eight people and the larger families will get whole turkeys.
Along with that, there will be canned vegetables, canned fruit and packages of gelatin, rolls or cornbread, stuffing mixes, acorn squash, cake or dessert mixes, coffee, margarin and half-a-dozen eggs.
“We’re hoping for fresh onions and celery, too, and gravy mixes in each,” she said. “And we’re going to try to add cranberries if we can.”
Many of the meats were already purchased in bulk to get better prices. What’s still needed are potatoes to mash, or powdered mashed potatoes, stuffing mixes, and dessert bar or cake mixes.
“We welcome any items, though, because the need doesn’t go away on the Friday after Thanksgiving,” she said. “We can always use anything we get later, if we don’t use it for the food baskets.”
And, she said, there’s always the Christmas holiday right around the corner when they’ll do food baskets all over again for their clients and those in need.
She could use volunteers on Dec. 20 to assemble baskets for Christmas. Those baskets will be handed out on Dec. 21, 22, and 23.
For Thanksgiving, Peterson plans to open the food bank overnight on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and again on Thanksgiving night so that the homeless can have place to stay over during the holiday.
“Thanksgiving is about family and comfort and love,” Peterson said. “It’s the one time when no one should be cold and alone.”
She plans to serve soup, macaroni and cheese, tea and hot cocoa. She and a few volunteers help prepare those warm foods for those who sleep over.
As for a warm turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, the Salvation Army offers that on Thursday, Nov. 27, beginning at 11 a.m.
“There aren’t many places around here to go to for a free, prepared dinner on Thanksgiving,” she said. “In the past the Eagles and others have done that. Anyone who is doing that should let me know and I’ll post it in our lobby so people will know.”
Contact Bremerton Foodline at www.Bremertonfoodline.org or call 360-479-6188.
