ALL ABOUT FOOD
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is a time many of us start to think about all those delicious holiday foods.
Our family loves to order the yummy pumpkin pie from Homestyle Bakery, 924 N. Seventh St., and their delightful “turkey butter” — it’s literally butter in the shape of a mini turkey — to go along with all the other foods we make.
We enjoy gathering with friends and family and savoring these foods and relationships.
Unfortunately, with food prices and food insecurity on the rise, many people in the valley are unable to afford a special holiday meal.
I recently saw that Community Food Bank, 476 28½ Road, will host a Holiday Food Drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. Its list of most needed items includes frozen turkeys and hams, canned pumpkin, gravy mixes, spices, canned pie fillings, boxed stuffing, cornbread mix, graham cracker pie crusts, masa flour and corn husks.
I reached out to Alisha Wenger, the executive director of Community Food Bank, to learn more about the food drive and the organization.
“The Community Food Bank has been serving Mesa County for nearly 45 years. Since 2019, we have increased our program service by 450% and are currently distributing an average of 80,000 pounds of nutritious food directly to our community members every month,” Wenger told me. “Our programs include an in-person choice pantry (with 50% fresh items), home and partner delivery, on-site resource navigation, SNAP application assistance, and nutrition exploration tastings and demonstrations in our pantry lobby. Our current monthly food costs average around $17,000.”
The foods donated during the Holiday Food Drive will be available for people to choose at Community Food Bank’s pantry and also will be delivered to people.
If you are interested in volunteering your time or donating money in addition to donating foods, you can learn how to do so at foodbankgj.org or call them at 970-640-0336.
I look forward to buying some holiday foods and taking them to the Community Food Bank on Saturday.
Please reach out and ask your friends and coworkers to join you in this important endeavor. Together, we can help bring some culinary cheer to our neighbors in the valley.
Thank you for helping others during the upcoming holidays. May we feel grateful for our many blessings and for the wonderful people and organizations who work day in and out to make the world a better place.
Email Christine Gallagher at allthingsfoodchristine@gmail. com.
Canned pumpkin, stuffing mixes, graham cracker pie crust and masa flour are on the Community Food Bank’s list of most-needed items for its Holiday Food Drive on Saturday, Nov. 19.
CHRISTINE GALLAGHER/ Special to the Sentinel
Frozen turkeys and hams are needed by the Community Food Bank as it seeks to help members of the community put Thanksgiving dinner on the table.
COMMUNITY FOOD BANK/ Special to the Sentinel
ALLAGHER
