The Peru Gazette

Single-Day Thanksgiving Meal Pick-Up to thousands of individuals, families and seniors in the Adirondacks and North Country 

  PLATTSBURGH, NY (October 22, 2025) — Regional Food Bank leadership and volunteers, local partners, site partners, donors and local elected officials joined together today to kick off preparations for the Adirondacks and North Country’s largest Thanksgiving Meal Distribution, unveiling distribution sites and key sponsors of this first-ever effort to provide nourishing meals to members of their community.

 “Thanksgiving is a special time of year — a season that embodies gratitude, togetherness, and the simple dignity of sharing a meal with loved ones,” said Tom Nardacci, CEO of the Regional Food Bank. “With the support of our sponsors, food industry partners, and volunteers, we are taking the monumental step of ensuring that every neighbor in need across our 23-county service area can celebrate Thanksgiving with a full table,” Nardacci added. “This year, the pressures facing families and food banks alike are immense. Rising food costs, increased demand, and fewer resources are straining the charitable food system at a time when more people are turning to us for help. In response, we are mobilizing the largest Thanksgiving distribution in New York State — a massive, coordinated effort reaching from the Lower Hudson Valley to the Capital Region and the North Country. This is only possible because of the incredible generosity and partnership of our entire community.”

Working with its robust network of community partners, the Regional Food Bank will provide an unprecedented 10,500 Thanksgiving meals to 2,250 people in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Washington and Warren counties. About 75 community volunteers will join Regional Food Bank staff, sponsors and partners at six specially designated distribution sites in four North Country and Adirondack counties will help hand out Thanksgiving Day ingredients which will allow families to cook their own meal at home. This more than 30-pound ingredient box is filled with food items (turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, gravy, vegetables, fruit, potatoes and dessert) sourced from local partners.

On November 22, Clinton Community College’s Institute of Advanced Manufacturing will be the local food distribution site. Volunteers will be be needed to organize and pass out the food via a drive-through systems. The Institute is located at 53 Clinton Point Drive, Plattsburgh, New York 12901.

In 2024, after more than 50 years of serving the Capital Region, Equinox asked the Regional Food Bank to step up and serve those in need for Thanksgiving. Last year, the Regional Food Bank served more than 150,000 Thanksgiving meals in six counties of the Capital Region.

This year the Regional Food Bank, with the help of 2,500 community volunteers, will provide the largest single-day Thanksgiving Meal Distribution in New York State, handing out 350,000 meals, serving 75,000 people at 21 distribution sites across the 23 counties in the Food Bank’s service area.