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90 hams still needed to cover holiday needs
Turkeys R Us effort
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Turkeys R Us are just 90 hams short of making sure that the 700 struggling households in Manteca, Lathrop, and Ripon that signed up for help at the holiday with local food closets will have a traditional meal.

The Turkeys R Us effort collected 900 turkeys for Thanksgiving — including the free community Thanksgiving meal the Manteca Rotary and Sunrise Kiwanis served to 2,300 people — as well as 710 turkeys and hams toward Christmas.

The effort adds hams to the mix for Christmas as food closets that have older clients in need of help find it is more manageable to prepare and to have subsequent meals over the upcoming holidays.

Should the community come through with the remaining 90 hams, it will mark the 20th consecutive year that the community has stepped up so no one in Manteca, Lathrop, or Ripon goes without during the holidays.

The Turkeys R Us effort working with the Second Harvest Food Bank makes sure there are other items with the turkeys or hams to make sure the recipients have the fixings for a traditional holiday meal.

Hams can be dropped off at Second Harvest Food Bank at 1220 Vanderbilt Circle in Manteca Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monetary donations can be made online at www.localfoodbank.org or dropped off or at Second Harvest.

A typical ham is costing Turkeys R Us $15.

The Turkeys R Us effort peaked seven years ago at 2,200 turkeys to cover both holidays. The improving economy has helped reduce the need that dropped to 1,400 this year after the turkeys for the community Thanksgiving dinner. Typically food closets see a surge in requests for food basket help during the holidays as many families that get by most of the year don’t access food closets but given the holidays as well as increased heating bills and those who are unemployed during the winter due to being employed in agriculture or construction put additional pressure on their household budgets they will ask for help.

 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com