SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — An annual Thanksgiving dinner meets an ever-growing need in Lackawanna County. The Friends of the Poor expects to serve more dinners this year than in years past, but that comes at a cost.
It's an annual tradition that goes back nearly five decades.
"It began 48 years ago with feeding 24 people for the Thanksgiving dinner and now it's turned into this week-long program," said Friends of the Poor President and CEO Megan Loftus.
Now, it will be bigger than ever before.
Friends of the Poor expects to serve more than 17,000 people Thanksgiving week.
4,000 meals will be served at this year's the Friends of the Poor Thanksgiving Community Dinner for adults and the elderly.
Then, 4,000 food baskets with all grocery items needed to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal will be given out during the family-to-family drive-thru food basket giveaway.
For the last several years, both programs have run out of food well before the designated end time.
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"It's heartbreaking, you see someone pull up with a car full of children, or an elderly couple who couldn't get there earlier in the day who now is like what am I going to do," said Family to Family Director Linda Robeson.
Friends of the Poor is also seeing a 30% increase in the number of families they serve year-round. Both are huge reasons behind expanding the programs.
"For us what we really want to make sure is our neighbors our friends the kids that our children sit in class with are able to have the same holiday memories the same dinner and the same break from everyday life and the stresses of life that our families have," Loftus explained.
But buying 4,000 turkeys to give away isn't cheap. To serve more families, the Thanksgiving Community Program will run around $250,000.
"We desperately need help this year, I would say this is the year. We've never needed this much money," Robeson stated.
To help the non-profit, Cooper's Seafood House is hosting a fundraiser.
There are dozens of raffle baskets inside and the restaurant is running a soup sale.
"Everyone loves the Maryland Crab Bisque, people just love it and it's a great way, a nice easy thing $10 pick up a quart of soup, and 100% of the proceeds go to Family to Family," Cooper's Seafood House co-owner Paul Cooper said.
Tickets can be purchased between now and the pickup date of October 24.
