Sharing Yolo's Bounty - 2019 Virtual Thanksgiving

Friends,
                                                                                                       

Last year, nearly one in five Yolo County families could not afford to put a Thanksgiving dinner on the table. 

Can you imagine how many are in danger of not having a Thanksgiving meal this year? 

Clearly, this holiday season will be like no other. The gatherings will be smaller, yet every bit as important and poignant. Building and maintaining connections with beloved family and friends is critical to our community's resilience to weather this terrible pandemic and the impacts it's had upon residents' livelihoods, their children's educations, their physical and mental wellbeing, and their access to basic needs, such as food. Despite the abundance of the harvest season, Yolo County now is home to more vulnerable people and more human suffering than at any time in history. 

Last Thanksgiving, more than 2,000 Yolo County families relied upon a Holiday Meal Kit from Yolo Food Bank for a meal of gratitude. This year, we are preparing to serve at least 3,000 families, a minimum 50% increase in need for meal kits. May we count upon you to once again support us in "Sharing Yolo's Bounty"? 

Each meal kit includes a holiday turkey, local fresh vegetables, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread, cranberries, and pumpkin, and is valued at $50. They will be distributed from 10 locations countywide in the week prior to the holiday, all requiring adaptation to meet COVID-19 safety protocols. It's a heavy lift, literally and figuratively, and, despite the donations of several community partners, a $100,000 gap remains to fully fund all 3,000 meal kits. It's the goal of the "Sharing Yolo's Bounty" campaign to close that gap, and bring Thanksgiving home to local families most in need of the hope and the heart of the holiday season.

Whether a gift of $5,000 to feed 100 families, $500 to provide for 10 families, or an additional contribution of $50 to ensure that one less family faces empty plates this Thanksgiving, your generosity can be the light at a dark time for your neighbors in need. 

Wishing you peace and wellness at this tender time in an unprecedented and challenging year.

With gratitude,

Joy Cohan

Director of Philanthropic Engagement