PALMER — When you give thanks on Thursday, do you mention where the food came from? Are you thankful to have food in the first place?

Praising the meal will no doubt be in the forefront of the ceremony for almost 200 families around the Valley who may not have had a meal without the efforts of local groups giving out Thanksgiving baskets.

Alaska Family Services spearheads the largest effort and has done so for years, chief executive officer Donn Bennice said.

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“(The baskets) have everything they need to have a Thanksgiving dinner,” Bennice said. “Turkey, ham, potatoes, pumpkin pie mix. The works.”

The food is largely donated, he said. Alaska Family Services has partnerships with schools around the Valley, the local AARP, the Mat-Su Borough and many area churches. Donations are collected throughout the year.

“Without them, we couldn’t do the project,” Bennice said.

The food distribution started Monday. Bennice said participation in the program is based on need. Interested families can fill out applications, and recipients are monitored for duplication with other groups doing similar projects.

“We have had 116 families preregister, and we are expecting to do 160 baskets by the end of the program,” Bennice said, numbers they can easily handle.

Bennice said the baskets always include some non-food item the family can use even after Thanksgiving.

“For example, we will put the food in a laundry basket ... and include pans to cook the turkey in,” he said.

Alaska Family Services works with other groups doing similar programs to make sure everyone’s needs are met.

One of these other groups is a consortium of organizations at Mat-Su College. The college put together 16 baskets that were picked up Monday.

The program at the college was orchestrated by the Mat-Su Lions Club and included participation from other student groups, the local grocery stores and the United Way of Mat-Su, said Lions president Cheryl Page.

“Most of the food has come through donations,” Page said. “We have families ranging from three all the way up to 10.”

To qualify for the program, a family must have been nominated by a student at the college. Baskets included everything necessary to prepare a healthy Thanksgiving dinner, Page said, as well as promotional material for the college and educational programs focused for low-income students.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.