Groups come together to make sure Lakes Region is fed for Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, local organizations are ramping up their efforts to provide meals for those who need them.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Laconia has been reliably providing frozen turkeys, sides and vegetables to families for years. The food pantry will provide Thanksgiving baskets to 750 families this year. And while the deadline to submit an application to receive a basket was on Monday, food pantry manager McKee Jack said anyone in need should reach out to the food pantry, or come to the drive-thru basket handoffs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, or from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday, Nov. 25, at 1269 Union Ave. in Laconia.

“We don’t enforce the deadline. It just makes it easier how many people are coming,” Jack said. “People can still apply if they’d like to.”

To submit an application for a Thanksgiving basket from St. Vincent de Paul, visit stvdplaconia.org or call 603-524-5470.

Jack said various people and businesses in the Lakes Region have donated to their cause. Happy Cow Ice Cream Shop has been the food pantry’s biggest supporter. They are estimated to exceed 500 turkeys donated this year.

“It’s a great community to live in,” Jack said. “They’re very supportive.”

Happy Cow owner Calise Houle said in the 11 years she's owned it, the shop has made donations to St. Vincent de Paul. The first year, in 2013, they collected 18 turkeys. Every year since then, they have increased the number of donated turkeys, except during the pandemic, when the total dropped from 305 in 2019, to 247 in 2020. But last year, they collected 420 turkeys. This represents more than half of what St. Vincent de Paul distributes each year.

“We didn’t intend for this to be this big of a thing,” Houle said.

Houle thinks Happy Cow is the perfect place to collect donated turkeys. During the off-season for ice cream, business is slower, meaning not as much freezer space is used for treats, so they can pile turkeys high there instead. Happy Cow promotes the collection on social media, and offers anyone donating a turkey a free ice cream. They are open until 8 p.m. and on weekends, which makes it easier for people to drop off donations. Many people who donate do it every year.

“We see the same people year after year donating turkeys,” Houle said. “They look forward to it.”

The Congregational Church of Laconia is providing free hot takeout meals this year on Thanksgiving Day from noon to 2 p.m. This will include a full meal with turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, a dinner roll and vegetables, as well as a slice of pie and bottled water, served with plastic dinnerware. The meals are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. The church is located at 18 Veterans Square, Laconia.

Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant partners with the Meredith Parks and Recreation Department to provide the Mae Hart Thanksgiving Dinner annually. Registration is already closed, but the event provides a congregate meal at Meredith Community Center on Thanksgiving Day as well as meal delivery for people in surrounding towns unable to attend.

The Northfield Tilton Congregational Church is also providing 125 takeout meals, and will give them out next week. The number they are distributing is limited by resources and personnel. The church will also serve a Thanksgiving dinner from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30, at 283 Main St. in Tilton. Due to decreased donations this year from the New Hampshire Food Bank and other circumstances, volunteer Star Murphy said the food pantry spent $3,000 to help feed their community.

Nancy Mellitt, director of development for the NH Food Bank, said one in 10 people in New Hampshire are food insecure, and food insecurity has increased, straining their resources. In 2021, the food bank started providing food to their partner agencies for free, making it harder to offer the same number of donations as before.

“We need to provide food year-round to these food pantries and soup kitchens, and the Thanksgiving holiday is one day in the year,” Mellitt said. “And we needed to spread our resources for year-round purposes.”

Murphy said the election this year increased demand for meals, as changes in government can create unpredictable circumstances for residents.

“Everyone gets thrown up in the air about what’s going to happen,” she said.

To help support the food pantry, donations of non-perishable items and turkeys, and volunteers for the dinner, are welcome. Excess donations will be used for Christmas meals or year-round endeavors. Leftover dinner food will be donated to local organizations. To learn more, call 603-286-4253.

“If the community wants to participate in any way shape or form, we’re absolutely here to accept that.”