With the rising cost of food and food insecurity on the rise, it has become harder and harder for many families to afford a full Thanksgiving dinner with family members, friends and neighbours.
Richard and Ruth Kneider of Stratford charity Simple Dreams Ministries are once again doing what they can to help locals enjoy that big holiday meal without that big holiday grocery bill with their annual Thanksgiving Giveaway.
“It’s just an opportunity, right?” Ruth Kneider said. “ … Again it is about the fellowship together, supporting one another, bringing families back together that might have been divided for whatever reason. It’s really that getting together, just like it used to be. When Richard and I were kids, that was how it used to be. You’d get together with family, so whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, that was what we did. It’s just encouraging that again.
“And of course, with food insecurity, if we can give to people who are really struggling to get the groceries, that’s all part of it.”
As it has been in the past, the Thanksgiving Giveaway is intended for groups of six people or more and it can feed as many as 10 or more, especially if those who receive dinner packages supplement them with other desserts or side dishes.
In response to requests from those who have participated in the giveaway in the past, this year the packages will include a bone-in ham, which the Kneiders say is easier to cook than the traditional turkey. The dinner packages will also include 10 pounds of potatoes, frozen vegetables and a pie. The Kneiders say they will be equipped with as many as 100 dinner packages to give away.
“Our hope is with the number of these packages we’re giving out, there could be upwards of 1,000 people that can share a meal together that might not have been able to do that,” Richard Kneider said.
To register for a Thanksgiving dinner package, visit simpledreams.org, email info@simpledreams.org or call 226-633-5766. The Kneiders are also looking for those in the community interested in donating in support of the Thanksgiving Giveaway. Those interested in contributing can similarly email, call or visit the Simple Dreams website for more information.
Those participating in the giveaway this year can pick up their dinner packages at Bethel Pentecostal Church in Stratford between 4 and 7 p.m. Oct. 10. The Kneiders are asking recipients of the packages to bring their own grocery bags, boxes or containers for the food they will receive.
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