BOCA RATON, Fla. — Boca Helping Hands is asking the community to help provide Thanksgiving meals for more than 4,000 Palm Beach County families through its annual Thanksgiving Box Brigade.
The nonprofit is asking donors to contribute $29.72, the cost of a Thanksgiving box that helps provide families facing food insecurity with the ingredients for a holiday meal.
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For families already stretching household budgets, Boca Helping Hands CEO Dr. Andrew Hagen said the added cost of Thanksgiving can make the holiday particularly difficult.
"You know this has been a tough year for a lot of people economically, and we want to make sure they have a good Thanksgiving," Hagen said.
Boca Helping Hands plans to distribute turkeys and Thanksgiving meal boxes to current Pantry Bag Program clients Nov. 21 and 22 at five drive-thru locations in East Boca Raton, West Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach.
Volunteers pack thousands of Thanksgiving boxes
Preparing thousands of Thanksgiving meals requires plenty of hands.
Volunteers gathered at the Boca Helping Hands food center in Boca Raton to pack the boxes, including a group from Vivmark Residential.
Hagen credited the volunteers and community supporters with making the effort possible.
"We're going to be able to provide at least 4,000 families with Thanksgiving meals, and that's because of the people here today, thanks to you and thanks to all the people that support Boca Helping Hands," Hagen said.
To demonstrate the work that goes into the effort, volunteers from Vivmark Residential and The Boca Raton (who donated 100 turkeys) turned packing into a friendly competition. Each team packed 12 boxes, ending the challenge in a tie.
Turning a Thanksgiving box into dinner
The ingredients inside the boxes are intended to give families the foundation for preparing their own Thanksgiving meals at home.
Chef Andrew "Andy" Roenbeck, vice president of culinary operations and group executive chef at The Boca Raton, demonstrated how some additional ingredients families may already have can add new flavors to the meal.
Roenbeck added apples to stuffing and Florida orange to cranberry sauce. He topped pumpkin pie with meringue and gave it a toasted finish.
And when it came to the stuffing, he offered a simple Thanksgiving philosophy.
"Everything's better with butter," Roenbeck said.
The demonstration offered a look at what the ingredients packed by volunteers can ultimately become: a Thanksgiving meal served around a family’s table.
How to help Boca Helping Hands
Community members can support the Thanksgiving Box Brigade by donating the $29.72 cost of a box through Boca Helping Hands.
The campaign comes as the nonprofit prepares to serve more than 4,000 families across Palm Beach County for Thanksgiving, turning individual donations and hours of volunteer work into meals families can prepare and share at home.
Click here for more information about the Thanksgiving Box Brigade.
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