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Family to Family Feeds Thousands for Thanksgiving

SCRANTON — Depending on the amount of people at your table, all the ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner can get pretty pricey. An organization in Lackaw...

SCRANTON -- Depending on the amount of people at your table, all the ingredients for a Thanksgiving dinner can get pretty pricey.

An organization in Lackawanna County has been helping families afford Thanksgiving for three decades now.

There's a method to the madness as more than 3,000 people file into the ballroom at the Scranton Cultural Center. Volunteers help them fill bags with all the fixings.

"I like seeing young people help out like that," said David Skumanick. "You don't see that that much now. And it makes me feel good."

Skumanick is one of an estimated total of 16,000 people who will be fed Thanksgiving Day with one of the Family to Family baskets.

"A lot of difference, a lot of difference, because I'm on disability and it helps out a lot," he said. "(I'm) just staying home and getting full!"

Filling stomachs for three decades, this anniversary year for Family to Family may be a record one. The 30th Family to Family may be the one with the most amount of food ever. It's certainly the one with the biggest bill. It's going to take $100,000 worth of donations to pay for all this food.

"We still need about $20,000 because I didn't realize that our bill is actually $100,000 since we ordered so much stuff, but we're getting there," said organizer Linda Robeson. "People have responded in an amazing way. I've had people coming up and handing me checks all morning, so it's been amazing."

Robeson says they came up short last year so they ordered more to make sure everyone who qualifies for a Thanksgiving food basket gets one.

"It means a lot," said Dave Felker of Scranton. "It means we are able to have a Thanksgiving dinner. Otherwise, we might not have been able to have. It's through the generosity of others that those who have so much can give to those who have so little."

A little effort on the part of a lot of people helps make it all happen.

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