2,500 Families To Receive Thanksgiving Meals At Aurora Drive-Thru

AURORA, IL — Aurora officials, with the help of local food pantries, are gearing up to distribute Thanksgiving meals to families on Saturday.

For the second consecutive year, the city is partnering with the Northern Illinois Food Bank and other local food pantries — including the Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry, Aurora Area InterFaith Food Pantry and Holy Angels Food Pantry — to host a Thanksgiving meal drive-thru where 2,500 families will receive a large turkey and holiday meal boxes full of ingredients for several side dishes, officials said in a news release Friday.

Unlike last year, families will also get a bonus box of household items courtesy of The Home Depot.

Registration for the event opened at noon on Nov. 14 and within 45 minutes, 1,600 free turkeys were claimed, local officials said. About 900 people pre-registered for donations through the participating food pantries, bringing the total to 2,600 families that will be served between 9 a.m. and noon p.m. Saturday.

Nearly 150 volunteers and city staff will be at Phillips Park, 1000 Ray Moses Drive, to help distribute food and manage traffic.

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