Local food banks and soup kitchens gear up to feed hungry families this holiday season

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - While many are deciding what foods they're going to serve at Thanksgiving local food banks and soup kitchens are planning meals for thousands of hungry families in Lafayette.

"I spend about two months every fall working to get volunteers and sponsors and enough food to feed 800 people to get everything ready so it'll be ready for Thanksgiving," Lafayette Urban Ministry's Heather Hansen said about planning the upcoming Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

Hansen said finding enough food to feed those families is sometimes a challenge.

Food Finder's Amy Gaulke said they've received a lot of donations, but are always looking for more around the holidays.

St. Matthew's Care and Share Soup Kitchen manager Cheryl Rayburn said when it comes to finding food for the 1,500 families they feed, this year they need extra help.

"We're coming up quite short because we have the two holidays coming up back to back," Rayburn said.

"We need more food," Hansen said. "We have an online sign-up where people can go and sign up to bring everything from canned corn to stuffing."

"We've already brought in about 20,000 pounds, so that's been a really incredible turnout and we're looking to get even more by November 30," Gaulke said.

Lafayette Urban Ministry and the St. Matthew Care and Share Soup Kitchen have special holiday food drives to provide families with holiday food like turkeys and hams. Food Finders has also been collecting food for months to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Both Rayburn and Hansen said seeing families enjoy the holidays makes all the hard work of planning the drives worth it.

"People are grateful and they're glad to be there. We have music playing. It's a wonderful place to be and you get people from all walks of life," Hansen said.

"One lady was very emotional and said that had been the first time in seven years that she and her family were able to get together and sit down for a meal," Rayburn said.

Gaulke said when you donate food you could be feeding someone you know.

"It's your neighbors, it's your coworkers, it's your friends. It may also be some people in your family that you're just not aware of so maybe keep in mind the fact that the food you're donating could be going directly to somebody that you even know," Gaulke said.

Food Finders, Lafayette Urban Ministry, and the St. Matthew Care and Share Soup Kitchen are accepting food donations in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. Turkeys, hams, and stuffing are the most needed food items.

If you'd like to find out where and when you can donate food to feed hungry families this holiday season click on the links below:

Lafayette Urban Ministry

Food Finders

St. Matthew 25 Care and Share Soup Kitchen