Thanksgiving help for local families

On Thursday, many Baldwin residents are set to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family, all the while enjoying a delicious meal that took hours to prepare. But, much like in every community, not every family is as fortunate as the next.

To make sure as many families as possible have a happy Thanksgiving, local school organizations donated time, money and food to those in need.

Plaza
At Plaza Elementary School, 15 families were given Thanksgiving meals after the Plaza Cares teams solicited donations and organized collections. Parents Danielle Gioe and Christina Eckler organized the efforts by asking Plaza students to bring in items and also collected food outside of Pathmark in Baldwin on Nov. 15. Gioe and Eckler said the response was great, but they each noted the generosity of one couple that donated their entire cart of food outside Pathmark. “We were overwhelmed by the community,” Gioe said.