Thanksgiving Basket Donations

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Beth Skogen

A person in a turkey suit carrying a turkey.

The Goodman turkey helps load groceries into cars on distribution day in 2021.

E Each November, the Goodman Community Center assembles meal kits for a full Thanksgiving dinner for Dane County families, and this year more than 4,000 households are signed up (the deadline was Oct. 28) and will begin picking up kits on Friday. That's a lot of turkeys and other items to collect, and you can be a part of it by donating food items from the list or money by Nov. 20; find an updated list of items still needed at goodmancenter.org/thanksgiving. Donations can be dropped off at the Goodman gym from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.

press release: Nov. 14 update: The Goodman Community Center’s Thanksgiving Basket program will begin distributing holiday groceries to more than 4,000 Dane County families this weekend, and they still need help collecting food.

“It’s crunch time for us, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” said Francesca Frisque, GCC food pantry manager. “Donations have started been coming in, but we still need a lot of help if we’re going to provide more than 4,000 families with Thanksgiving groceries.”

For the last 34 years, the Goodman Center has provided families from across Dane County with everything they need to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal at home. This year, the center saw unprecedented demand for the baskets, with more than 3,000 families signing up on the first day of registration. By Oct. 28, the center had registered more than 4,000 families for a basket.

“Inflation has been hard on everyone in our community,” said Frisque. “We’ve seen a huge demand on our food pantry since August, so I wasn’t surprised when so many people registered for a basket on that first day. Every year, it feels so important to make sure every family who needs one gets a basket, but this year it feels even more urgent. There’s not a lot of time between today and when the first car shows up. We’re going to need our community’s help for sure.”

The Goodman Center updates a Canned Food Countdown on their website, goodmancenter.org, as well as their Facebook and Instagram accounts. Community members who would like to donate food are encouraged to check those lists throughout the week to see what is still needed.

Food donations can be dropped off at the Goodman Center gym (149 Waubesa St.) during these hours:

• Monday - Tuesday, Nov. 14-15 10am-3pm
• Wednesday - Friday, Nov. 16-18, 10am-7pm
• Saturday - Sunday, Nov. 19-20, 9am-5pm

Those who can’t drop off food can make a financial gift online at goodmancenter.org/donate. The center will shop for last-minute needs later in the week.