What words come to mind when thinking about Thanksgiving?
For many, “food,” “family” and “shopping” resonate when considering the holiday that involves a lot of eating, time with loved ones and holiday deals.
For others, the word they think of is “hunger.”
To put this into perspective, here are some Thanksgiving weekend statistics:
- Researchers found that approximately 51.2 million turkeys are consumed on Thanksgiving Day.
- Americans spend about $2.9 billion on Thanksgiving dinner.
- The National Retail Federation estimates 135.8 million people will shop from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday.
- As for potential Cyber Monday consumers, the NRF expects 183.8 million American will shop online.
Another statistic relates to Thanksgiving weekend, as well as every other day of the year; that is the number of food insecure Americans, all 48.1 million of them. Of the hungry, 1.1 million live in New Jersey.
One of our clients, a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer and found herself unemployed around the holidays, regained hope when an agency provided her with food for a Thanksgiving meal.
“It was such a blessing,” she said, “because not only did they give me a turkey; I got all the food I needed for an entire Thanksgiving dinner!”
She regularly visits her local pantry to gather food for her family.
“I was grateful to know that there was an agency that was out there to help families like mine when we are really in need,” she added.
You can support individuals — like this woman — who need a helping hand!
In addition to Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, put the following Tuesday on your calendars — #GivingTuesday. The annual day of giving encourages you to take a break from indulging in food and shopping.
This #GivingTuesday, our Board of Directors will be matching all donations up to a total of $100,000.
To learn more about how to join CFBNJ on Dec. 1, click here.
Your donation on #GivingTuesday will help provide meals for 1 million hungry kids!
For every other day of the year, you can also do something to support those who struggle.
Some ideas include:
- Volunteering at CFBNJ
- Donating funds
Every little thing you do will make a difference in the lives of our hungry neighbors!