We sat down with Austin Swallow, the Food For The Hungry Board President! They are getting started early this year by helping families with some pop-up food distributions in our community.
Austin tells us the motivation behind these events and he gives us the details on one happening very soon! He also talks about the upcoming Food For The Hungry Drive happening in December.
Today on The Morning Thing, Marcy and Xander explored some great ways to take Thanksgiving to the next level! These are tips that will make you and your family love the holiday even more.
Some of our favorites:
Start a New Tradition
Combine Travel with a Tourist Activity
Choose a Friends-giving or a self-giving act
To view the full list click HERE! You won’t regret it!
Today, The Morning Thing shared some great advice on how to prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are some great tips that we found online to help you plan ahead and be ready to enjoy this special holiday.
๐ 1. Plan and Shop
Finalize your menu.ย Decide exactly what dishes youโll serve (and what guests might bring).
Make a detailed grocery list.ย Include all ingredients, drinks, and supplies like foil, plastic wrap, and napkins.
Do your big grocery run.ย Get non-perishables, frozen items, and anything that can store well for a week. (Avoid the last-minute rush!)
Order your turkey.ย If you havenโt yet, make sure itโs purchased or reserved.
๐ฆ 2. Prep the Turkey
If you bought aย frozen turkey, move it to the fridge toย thawย โ it can take up toย 4โ5 daysย depending on the size.
Check you have a roasting pan, thermometer, and carving knife.
๐ฝ๏ธ 3. Get Your Kitchen Ready
Clean out the fridgeย to make space for ingredients and leftovers.
Sharpen knivesย and clean cookware, baking sheets, and serving dishes.
Label serving plattersย or sticky-note them (โmashed potatoes here,โ โstuffing hereโ) to stay organized.
๐ก 4. Prepare Your Home
Clean main areasย (kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, entryway).
Plan table seating and dรฉcor.ย Make sure you have enough chairs, plates, glasses, and utensils.
Set aside time toย decorateย โ candles, fall centerpieces, or a festive tablecloth go a long way.
๐ 5. Plan the Timeline
Create aย cooking scheduleย for the week and Thanksgiving Day. (e.g., pies the day before, casseroles in the morning, turkey in at noon.)
Make aย to-do listย for each day leading up to the holiday.
๐ช 6. Coordinate with Guests
Confirm whoโs coming andย what timeย theyโll arrive.
Double-check whoโsย bringing what dishesย or drinks.
Plan for anyย dietary needsย (vegetarian, gluten-free, etc.).
๐ฐ 7. Start Early Prep
Make andย freeze pie dough, casseroles, or rollsย if possible.
Chop veggies ahead of time and store them in labeled containers.
Prepare any make-ahead dishes like cranberry sauce or gravy base.
It started in 2003 with only 20 meals and its grown so much. It started with the idea of just helping families have meals and itโs grown to be such a large part of Thanksgiving. It just started with people checking on neighbors and now it gone beyond that to a widespread to reach families and have a meal on Thanksgiving.
Ginny talks about how families can get a meal for Thanksgiving. All you have to do is either call or text to get a full boxed meal and certificate to get meats for Thanksgiving by calling 740-324-9503 to help get signed up.
The last pickup for the year is this Saturday, November 22nd at their new facility at Habitat for Humanity in Mount Vernon.
She also talks about ways you can help support their work through donations and volunteering. The Knox County community has been very supportive, and theyโve been so blessed with smaller groups whoโve done food drives with a small list of things they need for their meal boxes. They sell tickets at the Knox County Fair and she explains how the community helps with that as well as other fundraisers run to help them as well as the Food for the hungry who helps support them as well as so many others.
She also thanks Habitat for Humanity and their help by giving them a permanent location and theyโre so thankful for having a location and not having to go from place to place to try to keep working all year. Sheโs so thankful for the community support to keep this foundation working.
She talks about the goals for the community to end the season, they need volunteers for the ticket booth at the Knox County fairgrounds. If you see something for their foundation, put some nonperishable food in there like cans, or call their number.
They have food that needs to be delivered for them if you have time to help them and helping people who canโt go to get their turkey.
Click HERE to find out more about the Byron Saunders Foundation.
Eric Brown got to speak with the Knox Community Jazz Orchestra Director, Ted Buehrer! Ted talks about their partnership with Food For The Hungry and talks about the concert. It is more than just a concert so he also details the entire event and lets you know what to bring!
Today is the day of the year when the most candy is consumed. Roughly 25% of all annual candy sales in the US are made on this day! For our Friday Favorites, The Morning Thing hosts decided to tell you their favorite candies!
The Morning Thing hosts have been talking about Fall all week and they also want to celebrate National Food Day! So, they took this opportunity by sharing their favorite fall foods for this weeks Friday Favorites!
Today on The Morning Thing, we highlighted Fall! We shared some of the best fall festivities from Knox, Richland, and Ashland counties. All of these are great for spending time with the family!
Not only are these fun ideas, but the list shares specific events that you and your family can attend this fall!