Make a plan for Thanksgiving Blessing

If Thanksgiving groceries would help stretch your budget this year, we’d love to see you at Thanksgiving Blessing. Each November, Food Bank of Alaska and our community partners share free groceries so more of our neighbors can make Thanksgiving dinner at home.

Whether it’s your first time or you’ve been coming for years, check your pickup site before you head out. And if you know someone who can’t make it, a quick “Want me to pick up your Thanksgiving groceries?” might be just the offer they need.

When and where is Thanksgiving Blessing?

Choose one site that serves your home ZIP code. Even if you went last year, double-check the address and pickup format. Some sites offer drive-up pickup. At walk-through sites, you’ll carry your groceries out, so plan for how you’ll get them home.

What should I bring, and what can I expect?

Bring something that shows your home ZIP code so volunteers can help you check in or direct you to the right site. Thanksgiving Blessing is free, and there’s no advance sign-up for site pickup. There’s no income requirement, and you don’t need to receive SNAP to participate.

Please arrive early and be prepared to wait. Each site has a limited supply and may finish before its scheduled closing time if it runs out of groceries.

What’s in a Thanksgiving Blessing box?

Each household can pick up one holiday grocery package with a frozen turkey and groceries to make a Thanksgiving meal at home. The box may include:

• frozen turkey

• stuffing

• potatoes

• gravy

• apples

• dinner rolls

• butter

• a disposable roasting pan
  

What’s in the box can vary by site and depends on what’s available.

Since the turkey is frozen, make sure you have room for it when you get home and give yourself time to thaw it in the refrigerator before Thanksgiving.

Can someone pick up my groceries for me?

Yes. If you can’t make it to Thanksgiving Blessing, ask a friend, neighbor, or family member to bring a note from you giving them permission to pick up your groceries. They’ll go to a site that serves your home ZIP code. This is called proxy pickup.

If you can’t make it to a pickup site, please plan to have a friend, neighbor, or family member pick up your groceries. Home delivery is handled entirely by volunteers, and we can only make a small number of deliveries. Those spots must be reserved in advance and are only for people who can’t leave home due to a disability.

For questions about pickup or delivery, email programs@foodbankofalaska.org.

Where can I get a hot meal on Thanksgiving Day?

If you’d like to sit down to a hot meal, Frontline Mission is hosting free community Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday, November 26. Dinner is back at the Menard Center in Wasilla, and this year there’s a second location at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer.

For questions about either dinner, call Frontline Mission at 907-357-8600. If you know someone who’d enjoy a hot meal and some company, ask if they’d like to go with you.