News and Public Media for North Central Florida

Gainesville's St. Francis food collections down for Thanksgiving

Drop in food collections

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The refrigerator at the St. Francis House has only a few turkeys this year when it normally has close to 40.
Amanda Di Lella / WUFT News

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.

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Amanda is a reporter for WUFT News and can be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.