Needy families to receive Thanksgiving meals

Around 100 Wichita families will have fuller bellies this Thanksgiving thanks to the police department and a local homeless shelter.

Union Rescue Mission executive director Dennis Bender said free boxed meals with turkey and traditional holiday dinner trimmings will be delivered Nov. 22 to residents identified as being in need by Wichita police officers working in their neighborhoods.

Most of the families who will receive the meals are on the city’s north side, he said. The program – called “Hope for the Holidays” – is in its 13th year.

The partnerships will “bring some holiday joy to families who are struggling in our community,” Bender said.

Shelter donations and a grant from the Bombardier Learjet Employees Care Fund pay for the food. Police and some men from the shelter’s rehabilitation and recovery program will drop the meals off at the families’ doors.

“Each year the officers and our men from the mission receive a real blessing in helping out the families that wouldn’t otherwise have a Thanksgiving meal to put in their table,” Bender said.

The partnership “is unique and we’re so appreciative of all their hard work,” Wichita police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow said.

The Union Rescue Mission is a faith-based men’s homeless shelter located at 2800 N. Hillside. A similar program provides free holiday meals to local families in need at Christmastime, he said.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Needy families to receive Thanksgiving meals."