WASHINGTON — There are only five more days beforeThanksgiving, and on Saturday, hundreds of volunteers met at 5:30 a.m. at D.C.'s Stadium Armory to begin packing boxes of food to deliver.
The boxes are packed with a variety of vegetables and meat, and a message: You will make it. Someone cares.
"It's so great to be here and meet a need that many people may not feel comfortable sharing," said volunteer Andrea Anderson.
Anderson's 10-year-old son also volunteered.
"They know that when we sit down at our table to eat, they know that they've helped someone else sit down at their table to eat, as well, as a family," Henderson said of why she brought her son with her.
The 4,000 boxes are full of enough food to last thre to four days, not just for one meal, and there is also a coupon for turkey. The food is donated by Catholic Charities, and delivered by volunteers from UPS -- a sponsor of the event. The families who receive the boxes are identified by "Project Give Back."
It's an annual tradition, started nearly three decades ago by founder Ransom Miller III, who now sees more families struggling than ever.
"It's the results of the pandemic, but it's also the rise of food costs and fuel costs, and it's not just the destitute, now it's working families that need help," Miller said. "We've expanded our reach to touch more people. We're not going to help them escape poverty or escape that situation, but this one time, this one time they don't have to worry about dinner. They can invite people over to their house for Thanksgiving dinner, and that's what it's all about."