MADISON, Wis. — The Goodman Community Center is handing out their Thanksgiving baskets this weekend for the 32nd year in a row. Each one includes items like carrots, potatoes, turkeys and canned goods, all meant to make it easier for struggling families to make a Thanksgiving meal.
Dane County residents could sign up for a basket in October. After giving away over 1,000 baskets on Saturday, they still had more than 3,000 to go.
“This year we had to shut down our registration really fast. We hit our goal of 4000 families within a week and half of being open to the public,” said Goodman Food Pantry Coordinator Francesca Frisque.
She also said the higher than usual demand is likely due to the pandemic, which left many local families with financial difficulties. Numbers of people coming in to their weekly food pantry have almost tripled.
“There’s a lot of people we’re serving in the food pantry…a lot of people that hadn’t used the food pantry before 2020,” Frisque said.
Organizers are taking extra precautions to make sure that everything is in accordance with safety guidelines. One volunteer said COVID-19 was a consideration for her when she was deciding whether or not she should participate.
“With COVID…yeah it crossed my mind whether or not I should do this but I’m confident in the precautions that Goodman is taking,” said volunteer Emily Neumeier Arkens. “All volunteers are getting a thorough check-in when they come in, temperature checks, masks, gloves, hand sanitizer…so without a doubt it was something I wanted to come and do so I could help.”
All items in the baskets were made possible by donations from the Madison community.
The center will continue to accept donations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 23. More information can be found here.
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