Union Gospel Mission feeding thousands with Thanksgiving meal kits
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Turkey prices are down but grocery prices are still high.
The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is still nearly 20% higher than pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the American Farm Bureau.
Union Gospel Mission is lightening the load by welcoming 10,000 families through their meal kit pick-up.
"To me, this gives the community hope that people actually do care," Delonte Buckney, a volunteer, said.
Hope is something he recently got a dose of.
"Addiction, mental, being homeless, all of it, it was kind of all a tie with me," Buckney said.
He's now about to graduate Union Gospel's recovery program
"I don't think that people understand sometimes you can have it all and with a blink of an eye you can lose it and it's so hard to get it back because of how society and people will judge," Buckney said.
He says he understands the value of this free food.
"I come from a very large family so I know what it's like to not be able to feed your whole family," Buckney said.
So do a lot of other people. It's the 67th year the Union Gospel Mission has done this but it's also a first.
"We filled up our free meals faster than we ever have in the past," Pam Stegora Axberg, CEO of Union Gospel Twin Cities, said.
They are giving away turkeys, potato sacks and the fixings too.
"People really are living paycheck to paycheck," Stegora Axberg said. "You and I have seen our grocery bills go up. This is to kind of bridge that gap to make sure they have the groceries that they need."
Thanks to a last-minute donation they will give out kits on a first come first serve basis at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul.