Every Thanksgiving you get up early, make yourself crazy in the kitchen and wear yourself out feeding your whole family. Like they do every year, the D.C.-based nonprofit Food & Friends is offering to take one dish off your plate. Or, you could say it’s a chance to do good even while eating bad.
Food & Friends has kicked off its annual Slice of Life fundraiser. You can buy pies to help cover the costs of Thanksgiving meals for those who are too sick — think cancer and HIV patients, those with heart and kidney failure, and other debilitating illnesses — that they can’t do it themselves.
“So imagine the last time you had the flu and you were trying to make soup for yourself. So now imagine that you have cancer, and how tough that can be when you’re going through chemotherapy, and not feeling well enough to cook for yourself,” said Carrie Stoltzfus, the executive director of Food & Friends. “So that’s when Food and Friends steps in to help take care of people.”
This year, Food & Friends, and the bevy of volunteers who help out every day, are putting together about 900 Thanksgiving meals, which is enough to feed about 4,500 people when you include the loved ones who can gather around those meals. Those meals include roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, and of course, a pie.
“So that’s what Slice of Life supports,” said Stoltzfus. “You get a pie as well, which is the benefit. They’re pretty damn good. Our baker is Whisked by Jenna,” who is a D.C.-based baker whose goodies can be found in grocery stores anywhere from Virginia Beach to New York City.
Apple, pumpkin, cherry, nutty pecan, sweet potato, and sea salt chocolate chess pies are for sale, and prices vary depending on which kind of pie you buy. You can also buy a pie for one of the clients Food & Friends helps feed every day.
“We are going to sell 6,000 of them this year, believe it or not,” said Stoltzfus. “If you want to be 6,001, I am happy to help you with that.”
“This is really delicious. It’s a high-end bakery. The pies are wonderful,” she added. “This is a good way to take one step off of the prep that you need to do for your own Thanksgiving meal, while also really helping neighbors who could use a hand this Thanksgiving.”
You can buy the pies on the Food & Friends’ Slice of Life website and they’ll be available for pickup at several locations around the D.C. area on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
“Everybody needs pie, and all of those funds will go to support Food & Friends and our work in delivering meals to people who are living with serious illnesses, such as cancer, heart failure and kidney failure,” said Stoltzfus.
“We have pickup sites all across the DMV, so there’s going to be something that’s convenient to you,” she added.
And if you’re feeling generous with your time too, Food & Friends is still looking for volunteers throughout the fall: “We’d love to have your help,” Stoltzfus said.
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