Holiday Food Drive underway

The Holiday Food Drive is underway with volunteers putting out bags and picking up filled bags in the community. On Saturday, Nov. 4 bags will be placed on doorknobs of Thermopolis homes. Place your food donations of canned or dried food by your front door for pickup on Saturday, Nov. 11 from 8 a.m.-noon. No perishable items or home canned products please.

If your donation is not picked up or you need assistance, call 864-3629 and leave a message. You can also leave your donations in the entry of the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church at 642 Arapahoe and 7th Streets marked, Christmas food.

Sign-ups are being taken for Christmas Baskets from November 6 -December 7 at Public Heath in the County Annex, 864-3311 or the Help Center at 426 Big Horn St., 864-3851.

Basket pickup will be Saturday, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Holy Trinity Parish Hall, 7th and Arapahoe.

Volunteers are needed for box packing, carrying out and cleaning up on Thursday, Dec. 14 beginning at 6 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Parish Hall.

For more information, call 864-3629 and leave a message.

History

The Christmas Basket Program started in about 1982 at Nowcap, moved to the Elks, then to the Episcopal Church. Business status and auditing are now provided by the Episcopal Church. “Christmas Baskets” is a non-denominational program that serves anyone in need of the food and has people from the whole community who volunteer to help with the set-up and distribution.

Volunteers start us off with their fall food collection and then help sort this first gathering. Half of the food goes to the Food Bank at the Community Federated Church and half to the Christmas Baskets program. The “Christmas Baskets” boxes are set up in the Parish Hall at Holy Trinity, where the curb-side pickup/delivery also occurs. People sign up for baskets at Help Center and the Public Health Nurse. Donations of food, money, and help come from many businesses, organizations and individuals.

The Youth Alternatives Program, local businesses and banks, local schools, folks from local churches, and many others participate to make this program successful. They shop locally for the food they need to buy and appreciate the help our local merchants give us. It is truly a whole community affair.

They usually fill about 100+ boxes. They use the guidelines from the American Academy of Family Physicians for at least the minimum amount/type of food per person/box, with everyone getting some extra food when they have enough.

Turkeys or sliced ham, milk, and bread are the main perishables they purchase with cash donations, with the non-perishable (canned and dried) foods usually donated by the community. They also purchase pie filling, cranberry sauce, and stuffing if they don’t receive enough, so every family can have these special holiday items.