Give back for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is next week, and it is a time to be thankful for what you have. But what if you want to give back?

Oceanside Community Service will organize the annual Turkey Shoot at Oceanside High School on Nov. 25. From 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., volunteers and high school students will pack approximately 500 baskets with a Thanksgiving dinner and a week’s worth of food for 190 families in need. Volunteers are needed to pack the food and deliver it to its destination.

“The 25th is open to everybody,” said Oceanside Community Service president Bob Transom. “We can use the help.”

Cory Nichols, 14, collected food for the Turkey Shoot with 20 other Oceanside residents ranging in age from six years old to teenagers. The group dropped off flyers and collected food items. They collected 600 items in a week and a half.

“It was much more successful than we thought it would be,” said Cory’s mother, Jess. “In the amount of time he decided to do it.”

On Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day, Oceanside Community Service and the Oceanside Interfaith Council are partnering to provide a full free meal for people in need at Oceanside High School, including transportation or meal delivery for homebound senior citizens. Volunteers are welcome to come and help. The setup begins at 9 a.m., the meal is served at 11 a.m., and cleanup starts at 1 p.m. Kosher and non-kosher food will be served.

Those interested in transportation or having a dinner delivered can call (516) 208-5991. The deadline for transportation requests is Nov. 25.

For the good deed doer with no free time, there are food pantry drop off boxes at all of the schools. “We’re dong a good, robust collection of food this year,” said Transom. The food pantry at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church also collects nonperishable food items and gift cards for supermarkets.

For the rest of the holiday season, Oceanside Community Service will gather new toys, wrap them up and deliver them to families in need — all in addition to sending food baskets to 300 families. .