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PHOENIX - St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix is making a final push for donations to ensure thousands of families have a Thanksgiving meal.
The food bank is appealing to the public for help, as Thanksgiving is two weeks away.
What they're saying:
"We're still well over 9,000 turkeys short of our goal, and we have less than two weeks and really a week and a half before distribution starts," said St. Mary's spokesperson Jerry Brown.
The food bank's goal is to collect 24,000 turkeys, which would help provide dinner for an estimated 125,000 people.
St. Mary's has been running at full capacity due to people losing SNAP benefits and other recent economic pressures.
‘Everything is very expensive’
Shoppers say rising costs are making the holidays difficult.
"Everything is very expensive. It makes it very difficult. I'm a single mom and I have one child, so it's very difficult," said Patricia Olivas, a grocery shopper.
Another shopper, Lindsey Dias, who has a family of seven, agreed, saying, "The holidays are just a lot. It's a lot with that many kids ... Not just the food but the gifts that come with it."
Though slightly behind its typical pace, St. Mary's is confident the community will respond.
"We're a little further behind than we are normally, so we're a little nervous here at the food bank, but we know that the citizens of the Valley and Phoenix, they want to help," Brown said.
What you can do:
Donations of turkeys and other Thanksgiving essentials can be dropped off at either of the food bank's locations, or at 19 different grocery stores across the Valley on Super Saturday, Nov. 22.
Click here to learn more about St. Mary's Food Bank and where you can donate.