I posted a message about the Cambridge Food Pantry’s Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway late Saturday, thinking the few people online at the time would get a peek at the program, which I have agreed to support.

It turns out that I underestimate the Army of Good even sometimes. There were 50 purchases in the first few minutes and 150 in the first hour—turkey Gravy, 150 cans of Cranberry Sauce, and 150 cans of Turkey Stuffing, all under $2.

While the response has been amazing, we still have 450 items to go. With four to five weeks left, we need to keep the focus on our goal.

With your support, the Cambridge Food Pantry is hosting a Drive-thru Thanksgiving Dinner. I keep track and post what remains to be done every day.

We are deeply grateful for your contributions, no matter the size. Each one makes a significant difference.  The three items needed are listed on the Pantry Amazon Food Wish List until we reach our goal of 600 items.

(Each family gets two cans of gravy.)

You can access the list, browse the list, and buy food for the Thanksgiving Giveaway any time, day or night, via a link in these posts or the green button at the bottom of every post on my blog. If you can buy more than one item at a time – they are all under $3, that would help.

This is a dream come true for many people who need help with even the most basic food and hygiene—all they need for a full traditional meal. This is a bigger deal, a rare feast for the family.

They tell me nothing is worse than telling their children they can’t afford Thanksgiving dinner. No child should suffer that experience.

This is a gift of pride and hope. Many of these families and children know what it is like to skip Thanksgiving dinners. This year, with your support, we hope to change that and bring overwhelming joy and relief to these families.

The pantry is raising funds for the frozen turkeys. They asked if we could provide turkey gravy for $1.99, jelly cranberry sauce for $1.58, and fresh stuffing mix and turkey flavor for $1.59. I said I was sure we could.

Here’s the challenge: They need 300 cans of Turkey Gravy, 150 cans of Cranberry Sauce, and 150 cans of Turkey Flavor Stuffing Mix. That’s 600 items altogether, all inexpensive. We have 4-5 weeks to do it. I think we can do it sooner. 150 items were purchased right away.

I told Sarah I believed we could do it; all of the items needed from us cost less than $2.

If we sometimes can buy more than one at a time, November 21 (probably sooner) will be reachable and a wonderful gift to give these people and their children on Thanksgiving.

I wanted to get started this weekend, and we sure did.

If I can get the total needed and the total sold daily, I will post them. These three items will remain on the Pantry Wish List until we send all 600.

I’ll post these items every day from now on; Sarah will continue choosing two items a day that are popular and no longer on her shelves. Here are two for today and tomorrow:

The items we need for Thanksgiving.

Campbell’s Turkey Gravy, 10.5 Oz Can, $1.99. We need 450 cans.

Fresh, Regular Jellied Cranberry Sauce, 14 Oz, $158. We need 200 cans now.

Fresh Stuffing Mix Turkey Flavor, 6 Oz. $1.59, we need 100.

 

 

 

Sarah has also requested that we mention other items that are out of stock but in great demand.

Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent, Heavy Duty, Original  Scent, 24 Loads, 34 fl oz, $5.50.

Velveeta Shells & Cheese Original Pasta & Cheese Sauce Meal (3ct Pak, 17.0z), $7.47.

These are two of the most popular pantry items and are almost impossible to keep on the shelves. Thanks for helping to replenish them. They are important to people.