Share seeks aid to help needy on Thanksgiving

Clark County — Share, a Vancouver service provider to the hungry and homeless, is getting ready for Thanksgiving.

Share plans to package and deliver holiday meals to 400 local families. Supplemental food packages also will be provided to 1,500 children who participate in Share’s Backpack Program, which sends weekend food home with needy students at local schools.

To make this happen, Share is looking to the public for help. Donations of cash or gift cards to local grocery stores are needed to purchase turkeys and other food items. And donations of nonperishable items such as prepackaged stuffing mixes, instant mashed potatoes and canned vegetables are welcome too.

Drop off donations from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Share Volunteer Center, 1708 Main St., or call Susan Oberst, director of volunteers, at 360-750-4436, ext. 309. The food donation deadline is Nov. 16.

Food boxes will be filled with turkey, potatoes or instant mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes or yams, a box of stuffing, gravy, marshmallows, green beans or canned vegetables, rolls, a disposable roasting pan, dried onions, cream soup and a pie. The supplemental food packs for the Backpack Program will include all the above, minus the turkey.

Share Executive Director Diane McWithey said Reser’s Fine Foods has already donated 1,000 cases of food, valued at $13,800.

For more information on Share, visit http://sharevancouver.org.