For a quarter of a century, the COMPA Food Bank Ministry has delivered Thanksgiving dinners to more than 10,000 needy Colorado families.
Not this year.
“We were hoping there are others to pick it up, and we heard some say they were interested, but no one has said they’d do it,” said COMPA spokesman Al Hodges.
For now, none has, Al Hodges said – although a few said they will help in some way.
“I’m not sure what to make of it,” Hodges said. “The holiday events … seem to be going away.”
COMPA, which takes its name from “compassion in action,” has told the 21 agencies that distributed its holiday baskets about the decision.
The Denver Rescue Mission said it would increase its dole of Thanksgiving food boxes by more than 300 to about 1,000.
“This is a large increase for us, especially considering the low food donations we have received,” Rescue Mission spokeswoman Jenny Whitcher said.
Smaller organizations, such as The Lord’s Pantry in Commerce City, were stung by the news.
“It was a shock and a letdown, but we understand,” said Elsie Quillen, the pantry’s executive director. The pantry serves 140 disabled and senior shut-ins.
“Most saw it as their chance to make a Thanksgiving meal for their kids or grandkids,” Quillen said.
COMPA is one of six large food bank providers in the state. COMPA delivered about 6,000 Thanksgiving boxes directly to families last year, and its agency partners delivered another 4,000.
Hodges said as many as 18,000 families a year have received the food holiday boxes, filled with stuffing, cranberry sauce and other traditional fixings plus a gift certificate for a turkey at a local grocery store.
“To some we were known as the Thanksgiving outreach people,” Hodges said. “That’s nice, but it’s also discouraging. We provide meals year-round.”
COMPA chose not to do the boxes this year so the organization could focus on feeding the hungry every day. It was, Hodges said, “a very tough decision.”
“Our 170 agencies feed 49,000 people a week, and while Thanksgiving boxes was a very good event, it was just one meal for one specific time of year,” he said. “It’s important for us to be about the year-round need and to have a bigger picture of what we need to do.”
COMPA is the state’s largest faith-based food bank.
“My hope is that churches would look at their neighborhood and decide what they can do in practical ways for the holidays,” Hodges said. “Get to know your neighbors and take up what we did for 25 years.”
Food donations are way down in Colorado this year, Hodges said, clipped largely by the volume of aid provided to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Food donations to COMPA so far this year are off by nearly 170 tons compared with last, he said.
“So much food and donations went out of state and left Colorado funds and food lower than before,” Hodges said. “We don’t feel that we ever recovered from the export of food and donations caused by that disaster.”
COMPA does several food drives each year: Broncos Wives Food Drive; Project Glean, where people help with the fall vegetable harvest; 9Cares biannual drive; the Pure by Choice drive by teens dedicated to sexual purity; the Easter food drive at Red Rocks and Coors Amphitheatre; and a Fourth of July festival at Bandimere Speedway.
Staff writer David Migoya can be reached at 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com.
