Making Thanksgiving Food Baskets for Needy Families In Lexington

Thanksgiving is a holiday that brings people together over a meal.

There’s no better example of the spirit of Thanksgiving sharing than the hundreds of volunteers who turn out each year to form the basket brigade for God’s Pantry Food Bank.

On Saturday, I along with other members of the Frank Jenkins Law Firm joined other basket brigade volunteers in the God’s Pantry warehouse to assemble and load boxes of Thanksgiving food for distribution to families in Fayette County.

Unfortunately, some Kentucky families have a tough time putting food on the table each day, including the holidays. Some of them are people who recently got laid off or are going through a difficult time.

For 56 years, God’s Pantry has been working to reduce hunger in Kentucky by distributing donated food across central and eastern Kentucky. And the basket brigade has become a popular, annual event here in Lexington.

Brigade is the right name for this group of volunteers uniformed in green T-shirts and working with military precision for a common purpose: to defeat hunger. People of all ages take part in the basket brigade. Each participant is encouraged to raise pledges from co-workers and friends.

The volunteers work in one hour and 45 minute shifts. The various shifts have silly names, such as the salad sergeants, the corn colonels, the cranberry corporals, and the turkey majors. But our work is serious and worthwhile. Together, we packaged 4,500 boxes of Thanksgiving meals for delivery to Kentucky families.

The meals will be delivered to more than 13,000 families in Fayette County who will receive a good Thanksgiving meal. That sense of giving to help others is something that should make everyone who participated proud.

Even if you weren’t able to join the basket brigade, you can still make a donation to support the work of the God’s Pantry Food Bank. To get more information about making a donation to this cause, click here.