One Connecticut agency charged with helping people put food on the table this Thanksgiving week has met it's goal to feed thousands in need.
There were plenty of "thank-yous" heard at the Foodshare warehouse on Tuesday. Agency leaders had worried that this would be an especially tough year to collect food for Thanksgiving and that they might not make the goal they set. But they reached the goal for donated 'birds' on Tuesday.
This was the scene Tuesday morning in Windsor - a forklift steadily moving Thanksgiving fixings across the Foodshare warehouse while fully stocked carts brought food one step closer to families in need. Outside, workmen loaded hundreds of pounds of potatoes into a van bound for a food pantry in Hartford.
"All the people who requested Thanksgiving meals from us - that's 35 families - will be getting what they need," exclaimed Shari Cantor of the Jewish Family Services Kosher Food Pantry.
Cantor filled the SUV she was driving. She said demand at the West Hartford pantry increased by over 100% in September.
Similar numbers were reported in Hartford. "We're still below demand. We're still collecting donations," said Brother Thomas of the New Testament Church of God Helping Hand Food Pantry.
With the state's economy in trouble, some people who normally donate to food pantries are relying on organizations like Foodshare to feed the family this holiday week.
"We had a woman in our pantry who apologized for taking food from us because normally she donates food to us," said Cantor.
Foodshare met its goal of 16,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving, but it is more that $10 thousand short of the monetary goal.
The people who run Foodshare said 10% of the population relies on food pantries for help all year long, not just at Thanksgiving.
There was plent of excitement at the Foodshare warehouse on Tuesday with the turkey goal met. But there was still concern that not all the holiday season needs would be met. Foodshare was still asking for donations to continue on Wednesday.
