No one goes hungry after a Thanksgiving dinner provided by AIRC!

For many Native Americans of the Northern Plains, Thanksgiving is just another day. Due to the extreme poverty on remote rural reservations, these families struggle to find even the most basic food, clothing, and shelter.

The AIRC Thanksgiving service helps reservation Elders provide a nutritious and uplifting holiday meal for their families.  For many, this will be one of the few hearty meals they eat during the long, harsh winter.

Led by AIRC Program Partners, local volunteers gather each year to assemble and distribute some 5,000 Thanksgiving meal bags on more than a dozen reservations.  Each package includes a holiday feast for a large family: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetables, and pies.

Bringing Families and
Communities Together
The perishables arrive in refrigerated trucks, and the volunteers work quickly to unload the skids, repackage the food, distribute the bags, and deliver meals to homebound Elders.

These volunteers have the opportunity to feel productive, serve their communities, and meet other caring individuals.  We have seen time and again how these connections can spark needed change in communities. 

AIRC Thanksgiving provides much more than a holiday meal.  It brings families and communities together.

How can I help?