Mike Mallory is confident Manteca’s more fortunate residents won’t forget others in the community this Thanksgiving who are struggling with either job losses or substantially reduced pay checks.
There are just five days to go before they have to place an order and pay for turkeys so they can have them distributed to food closets in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop. The Turkeys R Us effort has raised just over $10,000. That means they are short funds for 736 of the 1,450 families in need in the three communities.
“People in Manteca have always come through,” Mallory said. “We are blessed to have what we do now given how tough things are.”
They had hoped to get a better price for turkeys but that hasn’t happened yet. Mallory noted that the low prices stores offer carry a one per customer limit. He added they are still hoping for some last minute success at getting a better price to stretch the money they have received so far.
The Manteca Firefighters Association was in front of the South Main Street Safeway on Saturday to try and spread the word and collect food donations as well.
Covering the main holiday course for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas requires at least $37,700.
The pressure on food closets is greater during the holidays as people who don’t normally turn to food banks for help do so. While a small segment are people on welfare, most are single mom households, households where one or two parents have been laid off or else had hours reduced, the elderly on severely restricted incomes, and those who have become gravely ill.
Turkeys R Us volunteer LeeAnn McNabb indicated that in order to make it easier for people to donate, they have set up a special phone number that connects people to the Second Harvest Food bank website. On there it will connect them to the Turkeys-R-Us page and allow them to donate through a PayPal account.
You simply text “turkey” to 209-213-1033 and that will allow access to the donation page.
A donation of $15 will provide a turkey for a family while $50 will provide an entire holiday meal for a family of four.
If you can assist Turkeys R Us, contact Coldwell Banker Crossroads at 823-8141. If you have an actual turkey you’d like to donate, you can take it directly to the Second Harvest Food bank on Industrial Park Drive near the branch post office and indicate it is for Turkeys R Us. The drop-off can be done Monday through Friday before 4:30 p.m.
There are just five days to go before they have to place an order and pay for turkeys so they can have them distributed to food closets in Manteca, Ripon, and Lathrop. The Turkeys R Us effort has raised just over $10,000. That means they are short funds for 736 of the 1,450 families in need in the three communities.
“People in Manteca have always come through,” Mallory said. “We are blessed to have what we do now given how tough things are.”
They had hoped to get a better price for turkeys but that hasn’t happened yet. Mallory noted that the low prices stores offer carry a one per customer limit. He added they are still hoping for some last minute success at getting a better price to stretch the money they have received so far.
The Manteca Firefighters Association was in front of the South Main Street Safeway on Saturday to try and spread the word and collect food donations as well.
Covering the main holiday course for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas requires at least $37,700.
The pressure on food closets is greater during the holidays as people who don’t normally turn to food banks for help do so. While a small segment are people on welfare, most are single mom households, households where one or two parents have been laid off or else had hours reduced, the elderly on severely restricted incomes, and those who have become gravely ill.
Turkeys R Us volunteer LeeAnn McNabb indicated that in order to make it easier for people to donate, they have set up a special phone number that connects people to the Second Harvest Food bank website. On there it will connect them to the Turkeys-R-Us page and allow them to donate through a PayPal account.
You simply text “turkey” to 209-213-1033 and that will allow access to the donation page.
A donation of $15 will provide a turkey for a family while $50 will provide an entire holiday meal for a family of four.
If you can assist Turkeys R Us, contact Coldwell Banker Crossroads at 823-8141. If you have an actual turkey you’d like to donate, you can take it directly to the Second Harvest Food bank on Industrial Park Drive near the branch post office and indicate it is for Turkeys R Us. The drop-off can be done Monday through Friday before 4:30 p.m.
