Utility Workers Donations to Provide 150 Thanksgiving Dinners

To call attention to the burgeoning needs of food pantries in Somerset and four other counties during this holiday season, Local 423 Utility Workers has provided a $500 donation to the Food Bank Network of Somerset County, Inc. for its Thanksgiving holiday food outreach. 

Local 423, whose offices are in Somerset , has donated a total of $2,500 to five food pantries, enough to purchase turkeys and all the trimmings of a traditional Thanksgiving feast for 150 families who cannot afford the basics, let alone the extravagances of a holiday meal.

Marie Scannell, executive director of the Food Bank Network of Somerset County, says the donation by Local 423 ensures that they will be able to reach the growing number of families in need this Thanksgiving, including the 28 new families added this month to the network’s recipient list.

The Food Bank Network of Somerset will be providing food packages with turkeys and all the trimmings of a traditional Thanksgiving to approximately 800 families, according to Scannell.

“With people having trouble buying essential food staples, Thanksgiving dinner would be whatever they can afford to put on the table. But the financial help we receive from the community--from organizations like Local 423--gives us the ability to help people enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with their family,” Scannell said. 
   
The Food Bank Network of Somerset County is one of five food outreach programs that Local 423 has “adopted” for the Thanksgiving holiday. The others include Flemington Food Pantry (Hunterdon County), Star Fish, Inc. (Union County), Fish, Inc. (Middlesex County), and the Lawrence Community Center (Mercer County).

“Greater numbers of families are depending on food banks, whose resources unfortunately are unable to keep pace,” said Mike Esposito, president of Local 423, which represents over 260 utility workers. "We are in a position to help these food programs so that they can help those who are struggling. Hopefully, our gesture will encourage others to do the same. 

“Every family should be able to put a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on the table. It is a small way of showing families facing financial difficulties that there is hope and people who care,” Esposito added.