Gainesville's St. Francis food collections down for Thanksgiving

WUFT | By Amanda Di Lella

Published November 15, 2012 at 8:46 PM EST

Drop in food collections

The refrigerator at the St. Francis House has only a few turkeys this year when it normally has close to 40.

Lee Smith has never seen the shelves at the St. Francis House homeless shelter this low this close to Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving Day each year, the St. Francis House uses food and money donations from the community in order to provide the homeless with a full Thanksgiving dinner.

Between 400 and 500 people show up at the event, and there are usually about 150 volunteers on staff to help out

The community is encouraged to donate to the house by bringing in canned foods like gravy, fruit and green beans or even turkeys.