SERVE gears up for Thanksgiving
By Tara Donaldson
With the downturn in the economy, more and more families are struggling lately to put food on the table.That's where SERVE comes in.
Securing Emergency Resources through Volunteer Efforts provides food, shelter and other assistance to families who have fallen on hard times.
This month, that means serving up Thanksgiving dinner.
At the beginning of this month, SERVE merged with Northern Virginia Family Services and the two groups are now combining their operations, but SERVE's biggest annual food drive will go on as always.
Operation Turkey is SERVE's most widely-known program and provides Thanksgiving dinners to families in western Prince William.
The dinners will come in the form of gift bags full of canned vegetables, stuffing mix, and vouchers for turkey or other meat from local grocers.
SERVE, and its eastern Prince William counterpart, ACTS, take on the Operation Turkey project every year but this year, they're serving more families than ever.
Volunteer coordinator Jan Hawkins said that last year, SERVE volunteers handed out bags for almost 1,000 families.
“With the economy, we're thinking it's going to be 1,200,” this year, she said.
Some of the families get regular help from SERVE and so they know to sign up for free dinner baskets. Others come from the Department of Social Services, where social workers tell their clients to register at SERVE.
The dinners are provided courtesy of residents, organizations and businesses, who donate food, money and time.
So many people have signed up to donate their time that SERVE has plenty of volunteers for the holiday, but the group is still in need of food and money.
Traditional Thanksgiving food is being sought in nonperishable forms. SERVE workers are especially looking for stuffing, cornbread and biscuit mix, canned fruit and vegetables, sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, gravy, pasta and sauces, applesauce, canned pumpkin, boxed desserts, coffee, tea and cocoa, sugar, cream soups and even peanut butter and jelly.
Monetary donations are also needed. Checks can be made to SERVE Holiday Giving and mailed to SERVE Inc., 10056 Dean Drive, Manassas, VA 20110.
Food can be dropped off at the same location through Nov. 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative is also helping to collect food for SERVE and ACTS. Through Nov. 16, residents can drop off food at NOVEC's Manassas and Woodbridge offices.
NOVEC's Manassas office is located at 10323 Lomond Drive; the Woodbridge office is at 14500 Minnieville Road. Both offices are open from 8:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
For more information about Operation Turkey, visit www.serveinc.org or call 703-368-2979.