For the 25th year, Cathedral of Hope will offer Thanksgiving baskets to needy Dallas families on Sunday, Nov. 20.
Members of the church are putting together baskets for 400 families that might otherwise go without a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
The baskets will be placed out on the church lawn in Sunday morning between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. The green-friendly recyclable bags or containers will be stocked with a complete Thanksgiving meal — a frozen turkey, potatoes, dressing, green beans, corn, sweet potatoes and three other side dishes, dessert and coffee and tea.
Cathedral of Hope members shop for the meals and create the baskets themselves or contribute $35 to have one made. The Thanksgiving Basket project began in 1986 and is part of the Cathedral of Hope’s Holiday Benevolence program that also includes the annual “Christmas Pac-the-Pantry” and “School Uniform” drive in December for needy families. Contributions to the program can be made online at CathedralOfHope.com or may be sent to Cathedral of Hope UCC, 5910 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, TX 75235.
According to the 2011 Beyond ABC annual report by Children’s Medical Center released this month:
In Dallas County, an estimated 192,502 children — or 29 percent of the total population under the age of 18 — live in poverty. In the city of Dallas the figures are worse.
Within the city, 37 percent of all children live below the poverty line.
More than 183,000 children have inadequate food and poor nutrition. Almost 18 percent of Dallas County children have no private or government health insurance.