Food Bank of Alaska and faith community moving forward with Thanksgiving Blessing meal distribution

WASILLA — Food Bank of Alaska and its partners across the faith community are moving forward with their annual Thanksgiving Blessing meal distribution, switching to a drive thru model to accommodate social distancing measures.

“It’s one that we consider so core to our mission. Thanksgiving is all about being with your family and your friends, having a great meal together. I think that this year the meal part is even more important,” Food Bank of Alaska Director of Public Engagement Cara Durr said.

Volunteers from Anchorage, Eagle River and the Mat-Su Valley are gearing up to serve an estimated 11,000 families in need, providing bundles of groceries to make up a full Thanksgiving dinner, according to a recent press release.

“Thanksgiving Blessing is an amazing community-wide effort. During this time of heightened need, we are proud to partner with the faith community to ensure that our hungry neighbors can enjoy a holiday meal,” Food Bank of Alaska CEO Jim Baldwin stated in the press release.

Churches across the Valley will be distributing food to locals based on their zip codes Saturday, Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There are a total of five participating churches stretching from Palmer to Talkeetna.

According to Durr, Food Bank of Alaska outreach staff will also be onsite with church volunteers to answer questions regarding SNAP and other food assistance information. She said this annual tradition wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated volunteers, many of whom are regulars and participate each year.

Valley Blessing is scheduled for five sites from Palmer to Talkeetna. There’s seven sites across Eagle River and Anchorage. Durr said all sites will utilize a contactless drive thru model due to the increase in COVID cases.

“This year, with COVID, it’s just pretty important to keep everyone safe first and foremost, Durr said. “I think the positive side of that is the sites are expecting it to be an efficient [drive thru] process.”

Due to the increased demand for food in general in wake of the pandemic, Food Bank officials are expecting to serve more meals this year than years prior, according to Durr.

“We’re very busty. Obviously, we had a big uptick in the need… In the summer it slowed down a bit… This fall we’ve really seen it ramping up,” Durr said.

Durr noted while it’s difficult to estimate the number, there could be up to 2,000 additional meals served this year.

“Just for compassion, in our Anchorage distributions… We’ve seen just from September to October, a 50 percent increase, which is really big. Looking at the number of households we served through the distributions this year in October versus last year, it’s a 184 percent increase. Well, I’m sure our partners in the Valley have seen similar increases,” Durr said.

Durr said that Food Bank of Alaska’s mission is to serve meals year-round, and the Thanksgiving Blessing is the biggest event they participate in each year.

“It’s certainly not our event alone. We’ve got many great partners who are helping to raise food, raise funds, get an army of volunteers,” Durr said.

Those acquiring Thanksgiving Blessing meals are asked to go to sites matching their zip codes and to bring proof of address. For more information on which location to visit, call 2-1-1 or visit foodbankofalaska.org/blessing.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com