Every Thanksgiving, Juneau charities reach out to the public with requests for turkeys and other food to feed hungry families. And they say that every year the donations come at the last minute. This year, food drive organizers hope Juneau residents will step up just a little bit earlier.
On a recent afternoon at The Glory Hole, Juneau’s emergency homeless shelter and soup kitchen, the main course for lunch is white rice, salmon and corn.
But for Thanksgiving, you’ll find most patrons at The Hangar on the Wharf for The Salvation Army’s community celebration. Salvation Army Lt. Dana Walters says there’ll be turkey, pie and other holiday staples.
“Sometimes you go to a free meal and it kinda tastes like a free meal,” says Walters. “This is top notch. Everything is freshly made. It’s just an incredible meal.”
The event will go from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.on Nov. 27. Other charities will offer Thanksgiving packages for clients to take home. Families sign up for boxes with The Glory Hole and then pick up their orders at the Salvation Army Corps Community Center. This year, their list is already growing.
Mariya Lovishchuk manages The Glory Hole. For Thanksgiving boxes, she says the nonprofit needs turkeys.
“Things show up kind of at the last minute, so we all always feel like we’re going to fall short,” Lovishchuk says. “And then last year things did not show up until, like, the day of distribution. So it would just be really, really helpful to get things a little farther in advance this year.”
Donate
The Glory Hole Shelter
What: Turkeys
Where: 247 South Franklin St.
St. Vincent de Paul
What: Turkeys
Where: 8617 Teal St.
Call (907) 789-5535 for more information.
The Salvation Army
What: Store-bought pies, store-bought rolls
Where: 439 Willoughby Ave.
Contact Lts. Lance or Dana Walters at (907) 586-2136.
Southeast Alaska Food Bank
What: Food drive
Where: Foodland IGA, 615 West Willoughby Ave.
When: 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday
Or, call (907) 789-6184, or manager Darren Adams at (907) 209-7801. There are also drop boxes at Rainbow Foods and Pavitt Health and Fitness.
St. Vincent de Paul is a shelter in the Mendenhall Valley that also organizes Thanksgiving packages. There are three volunteers on St. Vincent’s holiday team.
“We have been together almost 12 years,” says volunteer Rena Sims. “We started out when St. Vincent only gave out 25 baskets.”
Sims says the charity now gives baskets to over 600 families.
Louise Wertheimer is another volunteer. She credits the community and the participation of young people for their success.
“With all of these kids that come in, we’re more or less able to direct. More so than having to do the physical work like we’ve done in the past,” says Wertheimer.
And Paula Sumdum says the volunteers get a lot from their involvement.
“I’ve seen some really tough kids have tears in their eyes as they help out to the car with turkeys,” she says.
Darren Adams is the Southeast Alaska Food Bank manager. The organization receives most of its donations from supermarkets’ unused stock and provides small nonprofits around Juneau with Thanksgiving products. Adams says they got about 200 turkeys last year, most of which arrived at the last minute.
“It’s kinda nice to be able to go from having no turkeys one day to having four of five freezers full the next. And I’m very thankful for any donation regardless of when they come in,” he says.
