FARMINGTON — Baskets stuffed with turkey and all the fixings for a holiday meal were assembled Thursday morning at the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce office.

For the annual chamber project, now called the FCCOC Gerry Wiles Holiday Food Drive, 135 cardboard boxes were prepared this year, even more than last year, Shannon Smith, chamber board secretary, said. 

“We were overjoyed with the amount of community support we received. Our goal was to get a holiday food basket into the homes of 130 local families, and it seemed ambitious, but people rose to the challenge. Today we are sending out 135 baskets to families throughout Franklin County and each of the area food pantries,” Stacie Bourassa, executive director of the chamber, said Thursday.

Nine area food pantries and some families from Stratton to Jay were expected to receive or pick up baskets Thursday afternoon at the chamber office on the Wilton Road.

“Funding to local pantries has been declining over the last few years, and the need continues to rise. This is a critical time to support local efforts to ensure that our area’s residents have their basic needs met,” Bourassa said in a release posted on the chamber website.

Along with filling the needs for the food pantries, baskets are given to families referred by local service agencies, schools, Operation Santa Claus volunteers and others.

People also apply, Smith said. Requests were reviewed by a chamber basket committee and allotted based on need and availability.

“With all of the challenges we are facing in our current economic times, it is so rewarding to see people collaborating to accomplish something so significant. We can rest assured that our friends and neighbors will be coming together over a warm meal this holiday season. We had an amazing group of volunteers, wonderful support from Save-a-Lot, Walmart, Hannaford and Rick’s Market, and a tremendous response from a community that cares about its residents,” Bourassa said.

The chamber received a few additional monetary donations in the last few days, she said. That money will be divided among each of the area food pantries to help out with additional supplies they may need.

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