A full table

Thanksgiving baskets sought for homeless, low-income families.

By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
Thanksgiving would be very bleak for Natasha Conway and her two children, if it were not for the baskets of food prepared for families like her own by the volunteers of HomeFront.
   For the past five years, Ms. Conway, 31, has depended on Lawrence-based HomeFront for the turkey and fixings that she would not be able to provide on her paycheck. She is a senior clerk typist at the state Department of Environmental Protection, supporting a 16-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son.
   HomeFront is a nonprofit organization that provides an array of social services, such as housing, job training and a food pantry, for the county’s homeless population.

How to help
HomeFront, a nonprofit organization based in Lawrence, is offering its annual Thanksgiving basket drive. Each year, traditional holiday food is distributed to families in need throughout the county.


   The Ledger and The Princeton Packet will assist in the drive by providing drop-off points for donations. The baskets will be collected between Monday, Oct. 17 and Monday, Nov. 14 and delivered to HomeFront prior to Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24).

   A $50 prize will be given to the person who drops off the most creative basket. Fill out the accompanying form and attach it securely to the basket.

   Baskets should include:

   • Cranberry sauce;

   • Canned vegetables (peas, string beans, carrots or corn);

   • Dry boxed mashed potatoes;

   • Canned fruit (pears, applesauce, peaches or mixed fruit);

   • Fruit juice (cans, bottles or juice boxes);

   • Stuffing mix;

   • Muffin, pancake or baking mixes

   • Dessert items (cake, pie, pudding, pastries or baking mix);

   • Turkey certificate.

   HomeFront does not have the capacity to store fresh or frozen turkeys, but many supermarkets offer certificates that families can redeem for Thanksgiving turkeys. All donated items must be nonperishable.

   Connie Mercer, executive director of HomeFront, encourages would-be-donors to include food items for meals after Thanksgiving.

   Suggested items are: tuna, beef stew, canned or evaporated milk, dry soup mixes, hot and cold cereal, rice, pasta, tomato sauce, peanut butter, and jelly.

   Donations can be dropped at The Lawrence Ledger’s office in Hopewell. It is located in the Hopewell Village Square shopping center at 52 E. Broad St. (Route 518). For further directions, call (609) 466-8650.

   Donations also can be dropped at The Princeton Packet’s office in Princeton at 300 Witherspoon St. For further directions, call (609) 924-3244.

   When Ms. Conway was growing up in Trenton, Thanksgiving dinner was a turkey, collard greens and cornbread — unless Ms. Conway and her mother, brother and sisters were invited to a relative’s home for dinner. There always seemed to be an abundance of food at her aunt’s home or her grandparents’ home, she said.
   "I said, ‘When I get older, I want to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for my children,’" Ms. Conway said, recalling the mountains of food on the table.
   But in 2002, Ms. Conway’s world fell apart. She came home from work on a Friday afternoon and found all of her family’s possessions on the front porch. Her mother told her to leave the house, along with her two children.
   She spent the weekend at her aunt’s home and then went to HomeFront’s Princeton Avenue office Monday. By the end of the day, HomeFront had arranged for the family to stay in a motel. The next week, the family was given housing and enrolled in the Transitional Living Commitment program.
   Most families spend a year in the transitional housing program, which helps enrollees learn to set goals and reach them. Ms. Conway said she spent six months in the program, and then HomeFront helped her rent an apartment on East State Street in Trenton.
   Now that she is living on her own with her two children, Ms. Conway said, it is important to provide a Thanksgiving meal for them. It is important to her to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner, she said, and HomeFront provides everything she needs.
   "It’s important to have Thanksgiving," she said. "If you don’t have money to buy food, you won’t have Thanksgiving. If HomeFront will provide it for you, there is your Thanksgiving. You’ve got your turkey, cranberry sauce, green beans — that’s a meal right there."
   That’s why HomeFront has conducted a Thanksgiving food drive for many years — including this year, said Lauren Fine, HomeFront’s community education coordinator. The holiday can be very difficult for families living in poverty, she said.
   "Food is central to what we do," Ms. Fine said. "HomeFront started out by feeding families living in the motels. You can’t get back on your feet if you have no food to eat."
   For people who do not have enough food for an ordinary meal, preparing a Thanksgiving dinner can be daunting, she said. It is important for the families’ morale and self-esteem to be able to have holiday plans. The food baskets give people the tools they need to survive and thrive, she added.
   HomeFront depends on volunteers to make Thanksgiving special for the clients and needy families, she said. All of the food is donated by volunteers and community members. Volunteers sort out the donated items and prepare them for distribution to the families.
   Last year, HomeFront distributed 600 Thanksgiving dinners, Ms. Fine said. This year, it may distribute more than 600 dinners. It seems that every year there is more and more need for Thanksgiving food baskets, she added.
   "We really have no idea until people show up," she said. "We recognize the importance of Thanksgiving and we want to give people the tools to celebrate it. We are very lucky. There are tons of people who want to help."
   Baskets or boxes of Thanksgiving food items may be delivered to HomeFront at 1880 Princeton Avenue Nov. 14-18. They will be distributed to HomeFront clients Nov. 17 and Nov. 18, and to the general public Nov. 21-22.


Related stories:
Help to make food drive a success (Nov. 3)
Ledger, Packet help HomeFront with annual Thanksgiving drive (Oct. 14)