A brighter Thanksgiving

Some 750 Keystone food shelf client families — more than 2,200 people in all — received all the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner, as part of the Emergency Food Network Baskets of Hope program. Distributions of the meals -- complete with a turkey, chicken, pie and all the trimmings — took place at each of Keystone's three food shelf locations during the week before Thanksgiving. "We just would have gone without a Thanksgiving dinner if we hadn't had this," said a Keystone client after picking up all the fixings for the traditional feast at the Roseville Food Shelf last week.

(MPR carried a story on Thanksgiving meal programs, which featured Keystone among other providers, on November 23. Click here for the story.)

One young St. Paul couple (pictured above), both full-time college students, expressed their gratitude for the assistance after packing the two large boxes of food into their trunk of their car. "This is really going to help us have a much happier Thanksgiving," said the young man. "It's tough to get by and it's really nice that people have donated to give to families who need help."

Volunteer Steve Zelmer helped unload boxes for the Thanksgiving meal distribution at Keystone's Roseville Foodshelf.