Holiday Meals
Every year, our community has generously provided traditional sides and trimmings to help Beach Food Pantry clients at the time of Thanksgiving. Last year, we did something different. We asked our community to donate Thanksgiving Meals that were distributed to current Beach Food Pantry clients the week prior to Thanksgiving. The response was amazing! The food-filled grocery bags included a donated turkey - or a gift card to purchase one - along with items for a traditional holiday meal. We are so grateful for a community of individuals and businesses who offer support throughout the year to help us fight hunger in Dare County. This year, we will be collecting bags on Friday, November 17th from 4PM-6PM.
READY TO SHOP? This is an online service to streamline shopping and filling orders. Use the "Go Shopping" link when this service is in season.
Need food for the holiday? Please go back to our "Home" page, click on the "Online Shopping" link at the top and then look under "Holiday Meals".
Want to know how you can support Holiday Meals?
Prior to 2020, we provided a list of items each year that we asked the community to purchase and fill a bag with so that our neighbors in need could enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinner.
However, after COVID hit in 2020, it made most organizations rethink many facets of how they were serving their participants. As a result, we realized that ways we were serving in the Pantry that we were proud of and that aligned with our values were missing in these meals.
Every other way we served was based on family size and Client-Choice. That way, households were getting the right amount of food and nothing was wasted. We knew this was a better way to serve people that needed it. But, we weren't able to do that if we kept pushing a one-size-fits-all option.
In addition, we were looking for ways we could incorporate more fresh produce and other healthy options into our services. And, we needed a way to be able to allow clients to choose without having to come into the building.
During this time, we implemented online ordering. It has revolutionized how we can serve our neighbors in need, especially for special programs like Holiday Meals.
Clients choose exactly what they want. We are able to provide more food for larger families. We can offer fresh produce, dairy, etc that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to. We can allow them to know what they can expect to receive in advance of the distribution so they can plan around it accordingly. We can accommodate special diets (vegetarians, or those needing low-sodium or sugar-free options); nontraditional items (Did you know that ~50% of people would prefer a ham over a turkey?); culturally relevant foods; and solutions for specific challenges (for example, if there is no functioning oven in the home).
Online ordering provides a way where any household in our community can come together and enjoy a feast meal that honors their family's unique traditions and needs. We hope this excites you as much as it does us!
To that end, we no longer publicly provide a limited list of items to donate. We can take anything!!! If you are able to fill a bag with items, great! If not, your gifts can also still be used for the same purpose!
We ask donors to think about what foods they enjoy and look forward to for their feasts. We guarantee there will be clients overjoyed to have a range of options available to choose from!
We also suggest donations that help the clients more efficiently use leftovers. Think about things you may use for sandwiches or soups to really stretch that meal as far as it will go! Mayo, mustard, bread, noodles, etc.
Lastly, another holiday suggestion is related to things we don't normally purchase or provide. As a few examples, flour, sugar and spices are especially popular this time of year. But, we really try to focus on healthier, nutrient-dense choices with our purchases, so we don't buy those. However, we never turn them away either!
Monetary donations are also encouraged. This allows us to bring in the product we need, and to do so as we have room for it on the shelves. This way we don't have storage challenges or waste, and we don't wind up with too much holiday product after the holidays. This is especially important because we are most likely to receive store donations of holiday product after the holidays, when demand has decreased. It also moves slower for us then.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we distributed over 615 Holiday Meals in 2023. Given the trends we are seeing in client demand on 2024, we expect to have over 700 requests. We cannot serve any of our clients without our community. We are truly thankful for you!
If you or your group are not comfortable with the suggestions above, please contact our office at 252-261-2756 so that we can create a list for you. Thanks!
