MONTGOMERY — The Regional Food Bank is preparing to distribute 575,000 meals to 100,000 people across 23 counties this Thanksgiving, including 50,000 residents in the Hudson Valley, as the organization expands its annual effort to meet growing food insecurity needs.

The distribution is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21, with food available at 48 sites throughout the state, stretching from Rockland County to the Canadian border. The effort will also include more than 10,000 prepared Thanksgiving meals for seniors living in low-income housing.

Distribution sites in Sullivan County include the Government Center in Monticello and Liberty Elementary School.

The Regional Food Bank announced the plans alongside community partners, sponsors, elected officials and supporters, and is seeking 4,500 volunteers to help pack, distribute and deliver food.

“Our mission for Thanksgiving is the same as it is every other day of the year: to ensure no one in our communities goes hungry,” said Tom Nardacci, CEO of the Regional Food Bank.

Each distribution site will open at 10 a.m. Nov. 21. Recipients will receive two bags of groceries weighing approximately 42 pounds, including a turkey, ham, stuffing, gravy, green beans and other ingredients for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Packages also will include apples, potatoes and apple pie through Nourish New York, a state-funded program that allows food banks to purchase New York-grown and New York-produced food for distribution to residents in need.

Hudson Valley distribution

The Regional Food Bank expects to provide Thanksgiving meals to approximately 50,000 people in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Putnam and Rockland counties.

More than 200,000 meals will be distributed throughout the Hudson Valley, including groceries intended to help families beyond Thanksgiving Day. The effort will require approximately 1,800 volunteers working across 15 distribution sites and 20 senior housing locations.

More than 233,000 pounds of food will be distributed and delivered throughout the region.

Seniors to receive

prepared meals

In addition to the grocery distributions, the Regional Food Bank is expanding its partnership with BOCES culinary programs to prepare and deliver more than 10,000 ready-to-eat Thanksgiving meals to 72 senior low-income housing locations across its service area.

The initiative builds on last year’s effort, which provided more than 6,000 prepared meals to seniors.

Questar III BOCES, Capital Region BOCES and Orange-Ulster BOCES culinary programs will prepare the meals, with Orange-Ulster BOCES responsible for approximately 1,000.

“Each year, the demand for prepared meals for seniors and veterans continues to grow,” said Dominick Purnomo, a Regional Food Bank board member and senior meal chair.

Purnomo said the partnership provides an opportunity to expand the food bank’s reach while giving students experience serving their communities.

“We are grateful to the BOCES leadership and students who are helping prepare and deliver 10,000 meals to neighbors across our region,” he said.

Volunteers, donations needed

The Regional Food Bank is asking individuals, families, civic organizations, faith communities and corporate teams to volunteer for the Nov. 21 distribution.

Volunteers will help with food packing, distribution and delivery throughout the service area. The organization is seeking 4,500 volunteers in total.

Market 32 and Price Chopper, a longtime partner, is among the key sponsors supporting this year’s effort.

“For more than 40 years, we’ve teamed up with the Regional Food Bank through food donations, fundraising, and our amazing teammates to support this effort,” said Dani Tremblay, manager of community relations for Market 32 and Price Chopper.

The campaign also is supported by Resorts World, Central Hudson, Don and Kathy Frommer, St. Peter’s Health Partners, Madeline Spagnoli and ThielGroup LLC.

Residents can find distribution locations, walk-up sites, senior meal locations, volunteer opportunities and donation information at regionalfoodbank.net/thanksgiving.

Distribution expands after record growth

Last year, the Regional Food Bank distributed 350,000 meals to 75,000 people at 21 sites, with help from 2,500 volunteers.

The expansion follows a 2024 request from Equinox, which had led a Capital Region Thanksgiving distribution program for more than 50 years, for the Regional Food Bank to help carry the effort forward and expand its reach.

The Regional Food Bank collects donated food from the food industry and distributes it through more than 1,000 partner organizations serving 23 counties in northeastern New York. The organization reports that its food helps feed more than 350,000 people each month.

In 2024, the food bank distributed more than 54 million pounds of food, equivalent to 45 million meals.