Forget the turkey. At Mountaire Farms, Thanksgiving is all about the chicken. They kicked off their Thanksgiving for Thousands Food Drive Monday to feed 10,00 families across Delmarva. "It's our way of giving back to the community, trying to give people in need a helping hand, a good dinner on Thanksgiving," said Phillip Plylar, President of Mountaire Farms. Nearly 200 volunteers spent the day packing boxes with a Thanksgiving meal for four, complete with sides, dessert, and a Mountaire roaster. They say it's that kind of turnout from the community that allows them to pull it off. "The same groups that benefit from the outcome other people that are here standing side-by-side, shoulder-to- shoulder with us working," said Zach Evans, Mountaire's Community Relations Manager. Several community organizations braved the rain and came out as a group to pack boxes. Even the kids had a day off from school to give back for the holidays. "Helping out others, it’s very important. It’s how we all roll," said Matthew Burns, a senior at Worcester Tech. In total, Mountaire will give out 26,000 meals to families in need across the country. Here on Delmarva, they've donated 70,000 pounds of chicken. With food prices on the rise and COVID still lingering, the need for Thanksgiving food assistance is even greater. For Mountaire, feeding those in need isn't a once a year philanthropy project. They have food drives Christmas and Easter, and regularly support food assistance organizations. "We actually donate to 48 non-profits and food pantries across Delmarva bi-monthly," Evans said. The next step is to distribute all those meals to those who reserved them at sites across Delmarva tomorrow. Most of them will reach their final destinations via non-profits and local churches. Mountaire hosts Christmas for Thousands next month that will provide a few more thousand holiday meals. They're already looking for volunteers to
sign upand help out.