While most Long Beachers will enjoy homemade biscuits, buttery mashed potatoes, fresh cranberries, moist stuffing, warm pumpkin pie and succulent turkey on Thanksgiving, Mary Lou Monahan recognizes there are many local families that can’t afford an elaborate meal — or any meal — on the holiday.

At the Parish Social Ministration Program at St. Mary of the Isle Church and St. Ignatius Martyr Church, Monahan and fellow volunteers start their mission in September to provide families with canned, bagged and boxed foods for Thanksgiving.

“It’s labor intensive, but it’s very fulfilling,” Monahan said. “And it gives people who want to help an opportunity to help.”

Both congregations first post sign-up sheets for the faithful who seek help in providing a Thanksgiving meal for their family. Background information is complied on the signees, after which letters are mailed instructing the families on when and where to pick up their food baskets.

“I’ve been sick and I buried my sister last year,” said one woman as she handed Monahan her letter when picking up her basket at St. Mary’s Tuesday morning.

While some families started to arrive at the churches last week, the outreach program continues to receive calls and requests for assistance from other families, several of which first found themselves on hard times when the economy tumbled in 2008.

"As of now we have around 380 families in need for Thanksgiving," said Blanca Cales, director of St. Mary’s Parish and Social Ministry.

The parish’s Thanksgiving drive has helped feed families for more than two decades. Partnering with area schools, which begin collecting canned goods in October, and local organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus and the Lions Club, has enabled the drive to provide for more families, from Lido Beach to East Atlantic Beach.

But providing enough turkeys and stuffing for them is something that requires months of preparation, volunteers, and patience right up until the holiday. 

"The Thanksgiving drive is something that's dear to my heart and something we're very proud of," said Bob Carroll, president of the Lions Club. "It takes a lot of work and a lot of time, but we're very proud of it after it's over."

For about a decade now the Lions Club has worked in conjunction with the outreach program, setting up stands and drives for food at area grocery stores, which has generated a significant amount of revenue that Cales, and the families in need, are grateful for.

"We had Lion members at Associated, Waldbaum’s and Bally Bannon this weekend and collected a great deal of food for St. Mary’s," Gloria Febrizio, a volunteer at St. Mary’s, said last week. "People are being very generous, and we're hoping to obtain more next week."

More than 200 church and community volunteers gathered to sort and assemble the collected items that include canned corn to Stove Top stuffing to bagged carrots. Forever hopeful that all of the families will be fed, Cales continues to remind people to look beyond the day at hand.

"We're Long Beach's main food pantry,” she said, “so we're willing to take anything that's left over to feed our community."