MESA, AZ — Many Valley families receiving a Thanksgiving meal say its more than just the food. It's knowing you have the support of the community.
"I was one of these families that struggled with food insecurity. That's the same thing that many of these families are having to deal with. Yes, I play football now, but there used to be a time my family struggled to put food on the table," said Kelvin Beachum, offensive lineman with the Arizona Cardinals.
Beachum along with two other teammates, helped the United Food Bank in Mesa on Monday, donating turkeys to nearly 230 families.
Organizers say more people showed up than expected, shining a light on the current need.
"We've had to turn away around 120 of those families today because we just ran out of food. So, that that's why turkey donations are really important right now," said Grace Astor from United Food Bank.
The community has the chance to donate during their annual Great Turkey Tuesday. The joint event with the City of Mesa will take place from 7 a.m. to noon at the Mesa Convention Center in the north parking lot. Their goal is to collect 2,000 turkeys and $20,000 in cash donations.
"There's a lot of situations when it comes to housing, jobs... just to every day crisis that happens within the world," said Astor.
Those are some of the many factors preventing families from having food on the table. It's being seen at food banks nationwide, like St. Mary's Food Bank.
"Inflation is what's doing it, and I think the rising cost of rent is what's hurting so many families. We're seeing 15% more than we did this time last year, on a daily basis, 30% more than two years ago," said Jerry Brown, with St. Mary's Food Bank.
St. Mary's says their goal this year is more than 20,000 turkeys, an increase from last year, to handle the demand. But, they are still short about 8,000 ahead of next week's distribution days.
"We know that because of the number of people that we're seeing on a daily basis more, we don't really have an idea of what we may see on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That's the, kind of the, unknown. So, we just want to make sure that we're as prepared as possible," said Brown.
They also have Super Saturday on November 18, where food bank employees and volunteers will be at 20 different locations, collecting donations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
