What can 800 donated whole turkeys do for local families in need?

Try providing over 16,000 meals to those with food insecurity come Thanksgiving, according to Ira Brill, Vice President of Communications for Foster Farms.

On Wednesday, the family-owned poultry business delivered a healthy donation of that many turkeys – equivalent to 6.45 tons or 12,900 pounds of food – to the Second Harvest Food Bank, kicking off the Thanksgiving Turkey Drive.

“The numbers are high for those living with food insecurity on the West Coast,” Brill said. “One in five children do not have enough to eat.

“This is a major problem.”

Second Harvest will be distributing turkeys to local families in time for Thanksgiving in the coming weeks, said Jessica Vaugh.

She’s the Development Director at Second Harvest Food Bank.

The local food bank has received generous Thanksgiving donations from the Livingston-based Foster Farms since 2008.

This donation by Foster Farms to Second Harvest is the first of many truckloads – they’ll soon be delivering to the various food banks and community groups throughout the state and into Oregon and Washington – providing more than 105,000 individual meals to families in need during the holiday season.

According to Second Harvest, Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather around and enjoy a meal together.

Yet, one in eight adults – an estimated 98,650 in San Joaquin County and 70,590 individuals in Stanislaus County – struggle with food insecurity.

Second Harvest – originally known as Good Samaritan Community Services – has been collecting food to feed the needy and non-profit charities in SJC and Stanislaus County since 1976.

Second Harvest, in addition, encourages folks to also help out with monetary or food donations for the holidays.

To learn more, log on to www.localfoodbank.org