LSS Fairfield Country Food Pantry gives meals to families in need

Aaron Burd, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
·2 min read

LANCASTER − The LSS Fairfield County Food Pantry handed out Thanksgiving meal bags to an estimated 400 families in need on Friday morning. By providing these bags, the food pantry gave families a chance to be able to have the Thanksgiving meal that many take for granted.

According to volunteers at the Thanksgiving meal bag distribution, the chance to help families in need was a great opportunity.

"I personally love the opportunity to be able to give back to communities, help families in need," said Melissa Clark, who volunteered on behalf of AEP Ohio. "This is a great opportunity to help the community, especially during the holidays."

"I retired here, it's my community, my family, my daughters and their husbands are here, my grandchildren are here," said volunteer David Bogear. "So, it's really about community service."

Director of LSS Food Pantries Jennifer Fralic said with how meaningful the Thanksgiving holiday is and how important food is to the tradition, it is very special to be able to provide these meals to families.

"It means everything," said Fralic. "We know in this time right now with high inflation a lot of families are really struggling to just make it day to day, so to be able to provide what people need to create this meal and this experience, that is truly special, it is truly a tradition, and it revolves around food."

"So, I think keeping those food related, family related traditions alive, it's really a way to brighten the whole community," said Fralic.

The food pantry was able to make this Thanksgiving meal distribution through the support of sponsors and the Mid Ohio Food Collective. Included in the meals handed out to families was a turkey and a bag with traditional Thanksgiving Day foods, such as green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

To get a Thanksgiving meal, families needed to register at the pantry and meet the income requirements. In total, 400 families registered to pick up free meals from the food pantry.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: LSS Fairfield Country Food Pantry gives meals to families in need