ATTLEBORO
For people with a turkey to roast, potatoes to mash, gravy to boil, squash to steam and pies to bake, it’s easy to take Thanksgiving for granted.
Their worries center around keeping the turkey tender, lumps out of the potatoes, the pie from burning and uncle so-and-so under a watchful eye.
But some people have other worries.
Not everyone can afford a grand feast.
If there’s any doubt of that, a chat with Michelle Burch, director of Hebron Food Pantry, will put it to rest.
On Friday she was trying to catch up on paperwork at her basement office in Centenary Church on Sanford Street, home of the pantry that helps seniors and working people cover the food gaps their income can’t.
It was a quiet time before the last-minute rush anticipated for Tuesday when way more than the usual number of needy were expected to flow through the doors.
And numbers tell the story.
Last week the number of senior citizens who showed up at the doors increased by 50. The total shot up from 110 the week before to 160, a 45 percent increase, Burch said.
Meanwhile, the participation of working people, who need stubs from pay or unemployment checks to qualify for the pantry, jumped by 30, from 140 to 170, a 21 percent increase.
The increase for the two groups combined was 32 percent.
Holidays bring out more needs.
It’s a time when more is expected.
“It’s always a very busy time,” Burch said, taking a break from calculating the numbers she reports to places like the Greater Boston Food Bank, which provides big donations to the pantry.
This year the bank gave around 250 turkeys to Hebron, which is now in its 18th year.
And Hebron has given away most of them already. Any it still has will go on Tuesday, she said.
On Monday, Hebron volunteers headed out early to pick up food donations from local supermarkets and bakeries. There are at least six who contribute regularly.
Then the workers stocked the shelves with the foods people need to make their Thanksgiving dinner more special than a usual meal.
The larger numbers which appear for a little help with Thanksgiving are fortunately met with an increase in donations, Burch said.
In addition to the usual stores that donate, at least 10 organizations held special food drives to beef up the stock for the crowds at the pre-Thanksgiving Tuesday, when seniors were scheduled to do their last-minute pickups in the morning and working people in the afternoon.
A freezer Hebron bought last year around this time, thanks to cash contributions, helps, because now the pantry can keep much more meat on hand, like the 250 turkeys taken home by those who can’t take a magnificent meal for granted.
“That’s worked out wonderfully,” Burch said.
It’s sounds like a number things have worked out wonderfully.
And that’s something to be thankful for.
