FORK to help fill holiday dinner gap

One of the great American traditions is the celebration of a Thanksgiving meal with family and friends, according to Lori Garber, Support Programs supervisor at the Oneida County Department of Health Services, and not surprisingly, the cost of such a celebration is not within the budget of many area families.

Helping to bridge that gap this year is the Feed Our Rural Kids (FORK) Endowment Fund.

In the past, employees of the Oneida County Department of Health Services had handed out Thanksgiving baskets to local families targeted by need.

“Due to lack of funding, last year we had to turn away about 15 families,” said Garber. “So, this year we reached out to the FORK Endowment Fund to see if they could help us to financially bridge that gap.”

FORK Endowment Fund Committee Chairman Nic Weight said that they are excited to partner with the Oneida County Department of Health Services at Thanksgiving.

“The FORK Endowment was created for circumstances just like this one. That is to provide financial support to local organizations whose efforts to feed children mirror that of Feed Our Rural Kids. This is a perfect collaboration,” Weight said.

Garber noted the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner basket is approximately $50 and donations for those baskets are being taken through Nov. 18. Checks can be mailed to: Oneida County Department of Health Services, P.O. Box 400, Rhinelander, WI 54501. Donors should write “Thanksgiving Dinner Donation” in the memo line.

For any questions regarding the Thanksgiving Dinner Program, contact Oneida County Health Services at 715-362-5695.

Recently, FORK also announced a partnership with both the Oneida and Vilas County Departments of Health Services in the creation and support of the Family Food Helpline. To learn more about the new food-centered resource, visit feedourruralkids.org/family-food-helpline.

FORK President Perry Pokrandt offered an explanation of some of the challenges for food insecure households across the county, noting that 79% of the counties in the U.S. with the highest levels of food insecurity are rural.

“It is that rural food insecurity that threatens the future physical well-being, mental health, academic achievement, and economic productivity of our area kids,” Pokrandt added. “This is the reason why we created Feed Our Rural Kids and the FORK Endowment Fund.”

Individuals wishing to learn more or to financially support the ongoing works of FORK and the FORK Endowment Fund can visit feedourruralkids.org.