Foodlink's Check Out Hunger

A local food bank is reaching out for help.

When you think of Thanksgiving, you often think of a turkey dinner. Unfortunately, for many people a holiday meal wouldn't be possible without the help of Foodlink. That's why the organization is reaching out for your help.

"People have gone from two income houses to one income house," Foodlink COO Jeanette Batiste said.

That's just one of the reasons Foodlink is seeing an increase in need. Batiste says when it comes to making ends meet, food is always the budget people sacrifice.

"You have to make your mortgage, you've got to pay heat, you've got to pay for your medicine,"she said.

Foodlink is an emergency food system. They provide for more than 450,000 organizations in upstate New York. It will serve more than 20,000 people this holiday season. The big push this year is local produce. Foodlink will send out nearly 10,000 "healthy" baskets filled with turkeys, fruits and vegetables. The food comes from New York State farms. Foodlink says this effort is not cheap. This holiday the food bank will spend more than $200,000. It's a costly effort that goes a long way.

"Thanksgiving is an American holiday where we celebrate the great abundance in the society. So, it is so important to be able to share that with people who are in need in our community," Batiste said.

With less than a week until Thanksgiving, Foodlink has only met 60 percent of its goal for the "Check out Hunger" campaign. The organization says your donations are key to making sure local families in need get a meal this holiday. For information on how to help, click here.