Residents receive Thanksgiving meals

HURON TWP. — Families took home a Thanksgiving box with all the fixings on Tuesday. Second Harvest Food Bank teamed up with BGSU Firelands to provide 300 Thanksgiving meals to Erie County residents. It was the first year for a holiday food distribution in the county, according to a press release. "BGSU Firelands is a college built on access and inclusion," said BGSU Firelands Dean Andrew Kurtz. "It's an honor for us to host the Second Harvest Food Bank Thanksgiving distribution because everyone deserves to have food on their table." Each package included everything families need to make a Thanksgiving dinner: shelf-stable food, a turkey, apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, frozen apple pie, stuffing, cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin, cornbread mix and soup. Families registered for the food bundles before the event. Eligibility was based on income and household size. Recipients picked up their package during a drive-thru event at the college. Second Harvest serves as a regional nonprofit that provides millions of pounds of food to locals each year. Second Harvest works in conjunction with many local organizations, such as OHgo. Volunteers handed out the food bundles at no cost to recipients. The nonprofit hopes to distribute 3,300 Thanksgiving food packages among Erie, Huron, Crawford and Lorain counties, the release said. "Everyone should be able to celebrate the holiday with a full stomach," said Julie Chase-Morefield, president and chief executive officer at Second Harvest.