If you’re interested in helping out needy families this Thanksgiving, there are quite a few places in the Valley where you can donate your time, money, or food. Grocery stores and food banks are accepting donations and there volunteer opportunities as well in case you would like to help out in the kitchen or serving meals. We’ve made a list of some of these places.
Thanksgiving Meal Donation and Volunteer Centers
Safeway donations: St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance: Purchase a turkey and drop it off at either St. Mary’s Food Bank of any Safeway location in the state. Safeway has promised to match each donation, turkey for turkey.
Fry’s donations: Salvation Army: Starting Nov. 3, Valley shoppers can stop in Fry’s for a $10 “Gobble Give” gift card that will count toward one turkey donated through the Salvation Army. If you purchase a card before Nov. 26 and keep your receipt, you’ll receive a 10 percent discount on your groceries Nov. 29, 30, or 31.
Bashas’ and Food City Donations: Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Throughout the month of November, Valley shoppers can purchase $1 paper turkey pin-ups to benefit St. Vincent De Paul at any Bashas’ and Food City location. Every $15 count as one turkey and 100 percent of the donations will go to food banks, Chou-Thompson said.
Turkey Tuesday: The Nation’s Largest One-Day Turkey Drive: 12 News is partnering with St. Vincent de Paul and Bashas’ to throw Turkey Tuesday, the nation’s largest one-day turkey drive. Drop a frozen bird or a monetary donation at any Bashas’ location in metro Phoenix or Northern Arizona. Turkey Tuesday will be on November 22nd.
United Food Bank: Drop off a turkey at the food bank on Saturday, November 22 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. or Monday-Wednesday, November 24-26 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance: The Eighth Annual Super Saturday Turkey Drive is happening on November 22 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Drop off your turkey donation at either St. Mary’s location in Phoenix or Surprise, or at one of 15 Albertsons around the Valley and in Flagstaff. In addition, you can donate a turkey at Safeway from November 2 through Thanksgiving, with Safeway matching each turkey donated with one of their own!
Phoenix Rescue Mission: Thanksgiving Food Box Delivery: We are excited to serve the families in our community who could use a Thanksgiving Dinner with all the Trimmings! We will need volunteer help from 9 am-1pm. We also need donations of Fill-A-Bags and Frozen Turkeys. We expect to deliver boxes to 700 families. Volunteer Drivers greatly needed for our Food Box Delivery Event on Saturday, November 19th. We will be serving 700 families a Thanksgiving meal this year. You will have the opportunity to deliver holiday food boxes along with a frozen turkey to those not able to provide Thanksgiving dinner themselves. If you are not able to deliver boxes, but would still like to help, you can do so by providing a holiday food box for these families. This event will take place on Saturday, November 19th. If you would like to participate, please contact Volunteer Services: volunteer@phoenixrescuemission.org or call (602) 346-3363
Volunteering at St. Vincent De Paul: We are The Society of Where There’s a Will There’s a Million Ways. Browse some of the volunteer opportunities below or start with the volunteer application, which is designed to narrow down your options depending on your age, skills, and availability. If you have any questions, please contact Volunteer Services at 602.261.6886. See more at https://www.stvincentdepaul.net/volunteer#sthash.y5rhEj5O.dpuf
Volunteering at Andre House: We serve between 500-700 meals, 6 nights a week, Saturday through Thursday. André House is closed on Fridays. The minimum age requirement to volunteer on our Dinner Service is 14 yrs. We ask our volunteers to be at the Hospitality Center from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The work includes food preparation, dishwashing, food service, and clean-up. All volunteer times are scheduled through our online scheduler at www.andrehouse.volunteerhub.com
Turkey Distribution Salvation Army: To help load turkeys into families’ cars when they come to the warehouse to pick up turkeys. Donated turkeys will be picked up by families and will be loaded into cars. For information, please contact Meagan Hawk, phone: 602-267-4177.