The Seven Loaves Community is giving thanks for the generosity of St. Andrew UMC church members and local businesses that generously provided turkeys and trimmings
The Seven Loaves Community distributed 700 full Thanksgiving meals to Collin County families returning with vouchers on Friday, November 20. Meals for pantry clients included turkeys, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, cornbread stuffing, fruit cocktail, macaroni and cheese and cranberry sauce, corn and white rice. In addition to the North Texas Food Bank, the generosity of St. Andrew members and local businesses provided the items for this effort. When one St. Andrew family learned the bird flu caused a shortage of turkeys this year, they bought all of the turkeys for clients. Another family, due to their connections, provided all of the fruit cocktail. Church members and local business who orchestrated food drives filled over 1,500 food bags with the trimmings for a Thanksgiving Dinner.
“We had planned on receiving about 700 filled bags of trimmings and were astounded when 1,500 were delivered,” said Becky Jones, communications coordinator for Seven Loaves. “The generosity of families and businesses has ensured that many Collin County families will have more this Thanksgiving to share with their families. It truly took a village to make this happen.”
In addition to the 700 pantry clients who will be given Thanksgiving meals, St. Andrew was also the distribution point for the Plano Mayor’s Meals for Kids program. An additional 500 families received a Thanksgiving meal at the same time as the Seven Loaves Distribution.
Approximately 100 volunteers distributed the food and turkeys, carrying the items to the families who remained in their individual cars. Representatives from KCBI 90.9 FM were also on site with a prayer station, offering a special blessing to each family after they received their meals.
The Seven Loaves Community was established in 2009. The Food Pantry, the first initiative of Seven Loaves Community, serves an average of 550 families a month. In 2014, more than 829,000 pounds of food was distributed. The program includes Joseph’s Coat, a clothing closet, which provides an average of 4,000 garments each month; Project Hope, a mentoring program to support women in crisis; and Plus One, providing hygiene products to clients. An estimated 130,000 people in Collin County live below the poverty level, more than half of which are children. www.7loavescommunity.org