Waupaca community rallies around Thanksgiving
By James Card
On Friday morning, Nov. 15, 200 Thanksgiving dinners were prepped for the upcoming holiday iat the Waupaca County Courthouse.
The Waupaca County Hunger Network, a subcommittee of Be Well Waupaca (Living the Waupaca Way) was putting the final touches to their holiday food bundle drive. Think of it as a normal food drive but with a Thanksgiving theme.
The bundling part was to sort all of thefood items into individual groupings that could be transformed into a Thanksgiving dinner.
The floor was covered with red bags filled with stovetop stuffing, gravy packs and other nonperishable items.
Since Oct. 16 they collected canned vegetables and fruits and Thanksgiving staples like cornbread and biscuit mix, and stuffing and gravy ingredients.
They picked up the items from drop-off sites at Aquamos Coffee Collective, Foundations for Living, the Waupaca Public Library and the Waupaca County Courthouse.
Also in the bag was an info folder with instructions for thawing and cooking a turkey and also notes on other community resources for anyone in need. The dinner package also came with aluminum roasting pans.
“Every buddle also receives fresh produce. We have potatoes, onions, squash and apples,” said Hailee Paul, the area’s FoodWIse Nutrition Educator.
She walked to another part of the building to an unheated loading dock area with cooler temps. The floor was covered with the bags of apples from Christensen’s Orchard, potato bins from Kwik Trip and crates filled with onions and squash from local farmers.
The fresh produce and frozen turkeys would be bundled together with the other fixings at the time of delivery as they must be kept cold. The turkeys were procured through Pick n’ Save.
“The funds for the turkeys are from the Living the Waupaca Way coalition and we had a donor a couple years back who felt strongly about helping with food insecurity so we had a pot of funds specifically designated for this type of things,” said Paul.
The Thanksgiving bundles will be distributed on Nov. 20-21 by individuals who have nominated families to be recipients of the food. There is no eligibility to receive a bundle. It’s for anyone who may be in need or appreciate some help.