Smithtown residents have two Saturday mornings to put Thanksgiving on a neighbor's table. The Town of Smithtown Youth Bureau's annual Thanksgiving Adopt-a-Family Food Drive collects donations on Saturday, November 7, and Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to noon, at the Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry, 90 Edgewater Avenue in Smithtown.

How it works

Each year the Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry provides complete Thanksgiving meals, turkey included, to local families facing food insecurity. The turkey comes from the pantry. The drive asks the community for everything else: the sides and fixings that make it a holiday meal.

Donors are asked to bring a complete meal, packed together, made up of these nonperishable items:

  • 4 cans of vegetables
  • 2 cans of cranberry sauce
  • 1 large or 2 small cans of yams
  • 1 container of juice (64 ounces) or juice boxes
  • 1 cake, brownie or cookie mix
  • 1 box of instant potatoes
  • 2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing
  • 3 cans of fruit
  • 2 cans of turkey gravy

Every complete meal also needs a card for the family receiving it. The card is required, not optional.

Extras are welcome on top of the full meal. The Youth Bureau suggests nonperishable treats such as candy, hot chocolate, marshmallows, cookies, icing, applesauce, shelf-stable or evaporated milk, canned pumpkin, canned pie filling or shelf-stable pie crusts.

Community service hours for students

Students can earn one hour of community service for each complete meal they donate. To get the credit, the student has to be there in person at drop-off, and the meal has to include its card.

Members of the Smithtown Youth Advisory Board will be on hand both Saturdays to collect donations and assemble the meal boxes, which then go to the food pantry for distribution to local families.

The pantry behind it

The Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry dates to March 1984, when members of seven church congregations in Smithtown set out to help residents who could not afford to feed their families. It is still run as a joint project of those seven churches, whose parishioners staff the pantry on a rotating basis.

Volunteering beyond the food drive

The Youth Bureau also runs a Volunteer Corps for its events through the year, open to both adults and students. The sign-up form is on the Youth Bureau's page on the town website.

Drop-off details

Saturday, November 7, and Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to noon, Smithtown Emergency Food Pantry, 90 Edgewater Avenue, Smithtown. Bring one complete meal from the list above, plus a card for the family. Questions go to the Town of Smithtown at 631-360-7512.

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