More than 300 volunteers packed more than 14,000 food boxes before the holiday during Mountaire Farms’ Thanksgiving for Thousands. Working on four assembly lines in Mountaire’s Selbyville, DE warehouse, volunteers packed boxes for a complete Thanksgiving meal, including a Mountaire roaster, stuffing, vegetables, and a dessert. The meal was enough to feed a family of four. The 14,000 boxes could feed up to 56,000 people.
Since the event started 29 years ago, it has grown substantially and has spread out to include the warehouse and a large tent.
On the same day, two Mountaire plants in North Carolina also took part in the food program. At all three sites, 38,000 food boxes were packed to feed more than 150,000 people.
Jordan-Matthews football team in Siler City, N.C. also took part in the effort by handing out free Thanksgiving meals to local families in need. In front of Jordan-Matthews’ cafeteria, the Jets gave out 75 boxes packed with a roaster chicken, two cans of corn and green beans each, a can of yams, cranberry sauce and brownie mix. The Jets have also participated in Mountaire’s Christmas for Thousands and Easter for Thousands in the past.
Lynda Ladd, grandmother of former Jordan-Matthews baseball player and 2017 Colorado Rockies draft pick Casey Golden, came by the school for a meal and said she prays God blesses each box and each volunteer giving them out.
“I just think its very nice that Mountaire gives these boxes out, and the people that give them out are blessed,” Ladd said. “There’s so many people that don’t have the money nowadays to buy extra things, especially if they have children.”