October 1 has come and gone. Normally Cedar Hill Food Pantry has everything set for Thanksgiving by now. We even have volunteers lined up to help distribute the food. We have traditionally given a complete Thanksgiving meal to each of our families the week before Thanksgiving. (You can't cook a frozen turkey so we give them a week early. This also gives our volunteers time off to spend with their families. ) For the past seven or so years a local church has asked their members to sponsor a family with a turkey and the contents to make the meal. The challenge this year is they feel the need to share with other food pantries in surrounding towns as well as in Cedar Hill. I understand their thinking and concern. There are hungry people everywhere. The challenge for Cedar Hill Food Pantry is that we are up to 250 families that are expecting to receive their entire meal from us. I honestly don't know where they are going to come from, but in my heart I know it will happen. Usually we can make our money stretch further by ordering from North Texas Food Bank. They had a shortage of turkeys last year and don't know when or if they will be receiving turkeys this year. If they do there are 160 agencies vying for the same few turkeys.
    If you feel you could sponsor a family or if you are part of an organization that might be able to provide meals please contact the Pantry at 972-293-2822 or cedarhillfoodpantry@gmail.com. Even thought we don't need the food until Nov. 8-15 we do need to know as soon as possible how many meals will be donated in the event we need to make other arrangements.  One way of helping is by donating the free turkey you receive by buying your regular food from local groceries.
    The items that usually make up the meal to accompany the turkey are: stuffing, canned yams, two canned vegetables, non refrigerated pie crust, pie filling and 1 dozen eggs. The approximate price would run about $40. The Pantry would love to receive food or cash. If, by the grace of God, we receive more than 250 meals for Thanksgiving we could use them to give as the Christmas meal the week of Dec. 15-20.
    If you find the need to help and can not donate food or money we can always use volunteers to stock shelves, bag and distribute food . This is an ongoing need. It takes approximately 30 people every week to keep the Pantry running smoothly. We stock shelves Monday - Thursday 8:00 am - noon and distribute food Mon. & Wed. 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm , Friday 9:00 am - noon and Saturday 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.
    Cedar Hill is a caring community that will not be able to sit at their Thanksgiving dinner knowing there were families in their city going without.