John 3:16 Mission Accepting Holiday Food Donations To Feed Families, Homeless During Thanksgiving Time

Folks at the John 3:16 mission are always hustling year-round to put food on people’s tables, but Brian Bost says the mission works a little harder at Thanksgiving time.

“Thanksgiving to us is a special time, it's a fun time,” he said.

Since 1952, it’s been John 3:16’s mission that no one goes hungry, especially during the holiday time, but in order to do that, they need help. They are encouraging people to make donations of Thanksgiving items so they can put them in boxes and give them to families in need.

They are asking everyone to grocery shop for the Mission by adding an extra frozen turkey or holiday meal ingredients to your cart over the next few weeks, and then donate the items to one of their locations or at one of their table set-ups at select Reasor's and Walmarts this weekend and next Saturday. 

“Our goal is to provide at least enough for a family of four,” Bost said.

Bost knows not all families have the resources to buy and cook a holiday meal, so this initiative aims to provide complete dinners to over 5,000 families in need.

 “To be able to come get a turkey, come get your meal, take that with you, go sit down, and you're with your family, I mean, that's a huge opportunity, huge blessing for our families,” he said.

Families aren’t the only ones benefiting from this.

“The food that we collect pretty much is gonna help everybody; we’re feeding our homeless downtown; they get to come in and have a hot meal during this time,” Bost said.

In addition to the drive-thru box distribution on November 18 from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Family and Youth Center, the mission plans to serve dinner downtown the week of Thanksgiving.

Bost says he sees the drive as an opportunity to fight food insecurity and make certain everyone’s bellies are full on this day of thanks.

 “Just every year, it amazes us just how many people give and give and give,” he said.

Proving that the mission is living up to the name of the holiday.

The food drives will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Even though the food drives are this weekend and next Saturday, the mission is accepting donations up until Thanksgiving.

They also accept monetary donations. 

For a list of items John 3:16 is accepting and table locations, click here.

To shop online and have items sent directly to the mission, click here.