SELBYVILLE, Del. — Hundreds of volunteers came together with Mountaire Farms this weekend to prepare thousands of Thanksgiving meal boxes for families across the Delmarva Peninsula.
During the company’s annual “Thanksgiving for Thousands” event, more than 15,000 boxes were packed with enough food to feed up to four people each. Each box includes items like a Mountaire chicken, stuffing, green beans, brownie mix and other traditional holiday favorites.
According to Mountaire Farms, the effort is expected to provide over 60,000 meals to people across the region. The boxes are distributed to more than 200 community nonprofits, which then deliver the food directly to those in need.
Zach Evans with Mountaire Farms said the event is about more than just food — it's about bringing people together during the holidays.
“When we all sit down with our families and we enjoy that meal and that fellowship with the people we love, it really puts a smile on my face and it makes me proud to know that we've possibly allowed other people to have that same opportunity during the holidays,” Evans said. “To forget about the stress and the challenges and the hurdles that they have to overcome and just enjoy the holiday and show thanks for the people that they appreciate and they love.”
Evans also noted the scale of the operation.
“The other really cool part about this program is every box is designed to feed up to four people,” he said. “And so when we talk about 15,000 boxes, we're actually talking about nearly 60,000 meals to our neighbors here on Delmarva.”
A statement on Mountaire's Facebook page notes that when including locations outside of Delaware, the company packed 42,500 complete meal boxes.
What began decades ago as a small-scale initiative to help a few dozen families has grown into one of the largest single-day food distribution events on Delmarva.