Helping Harvest has been busy making Thanksgiving meals for families in Berks and Schuylkill counties.
During the past month, the organization has prepared nearly more than 14,000 Thanksgiving heat-and-eat-ready meals at its new Helping Harvest Community Kitchen, a 7,000-square-foot space at GoggleWorks II, 229 Washington St., officials said in a release.
They said this is the first year that the food bank has prepared these types of meals on such a scale. The meals will mainly be distributed to area seniors. Helping Harvest also will distribute Thanksgiving pantry boxes and turkeys as it has in previous years.
Officials noted this preparation occurred during rising levels of food insecurity, largely due to the recent federal government shutdown and uncertainty around the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The menu for the heat-and-eat-ready meals features smoked turkey with house made gravy, sweet potato mash, green beans and cranberry sauce and was created by the Community Kitchen’s culinary team of chefs Melanie Galarza, George Adams and Chris Kochel. The meals were prepared and assembled by the chefs, staff and volunteers in October.
Volunteers at the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in Reading peel roasted sweet potatoes for heat-and-eat-ready Thanksgiving meals the organization will distribute to mainly seniors in Berks and Schuylkill counties. (COURTESY OF HELPING HARVEST)
“We wanted to create a meal that is delicious, nutritious and visually appealing,” said Galarza, director of culinary operations at the Community Kitchen. “Our hope is that we created something that neighbors are excited to eat. For those who are not able to cook a meal themselves, we still want them to have that comforting holiday experience.”
Staff and volunteers at the Helping Harvest warehouse in Spring Township also have been busy.
During a dedicated Thanksgiving box packing volunteer shift on Oct. 25, staff and volunteers prepared 4,752 pantry boxes with products typically found in Thanksgiving recipes or on holiday tables. Helping Harvest also will distribute 3,632 whole turkeys and 2,252 turkey breasts to those experiencing food insecurity, officials said.
“We know that for some neighbors, particularly seniors, a heat-and-eat meal is more convenient and nutritionally appropriate for them,” said Jay Worrall, president of Helping Harvest. “There are also a lot of families experiencing food insecurity in our community that still want to be able to cook their own holiday meal — we’re happy to be able to provide Thanksgiving boxes and turkeys or turkey breasts to them.”
Helping Harvest noted the support of volunteers in the kitchen who spent hours breaking down turkeys, chopping vegetables, peeling sweet potatoes and packaging meals, as well as those at the warehouse who packed food boxes. They also credited donors and food drives with helping make the effort successful.
By the numbers
Thanksgiving heat-and-eat-ready meals:
• 14,386 meals prepared
• 2,100 smoked turkeys broken down and sliced
• 7,080 lbs. of sweet potatoes roasted and peeled
• 3,140 lbs. of green beans used
• 1,092 lbs. of cranberry sauce scooped (in 96 cans)
• 1,200+ volunteer hours on meal preparation and packaging
Thanksgiving boxes and turkeys:
• 4,752 Thanksgiving boxes packed
• 3,632 whole turkeys for distribution
• 2,252 turkey breasts for distribution
• 380 volunteer hours packing boxes