‘It takes the whole community’: Food banks step up as demand soars for Thanksgiving

Elk Grove Food Bank Services hosted its annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway Saturday. The event, in its 23rd year, gives turkeys and other food for a Thanksgiving meal to local residents facing food insecurity.

This year’s event was the largest in the organization’s history. More than 2,170 families signed up to receive turkeys and so many people volunteered that the food bank had to turn some away.

The event comes at a moment when food banks have already seen a steep increase in need because of the recent government shutdown and interruptions in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Elk Grove food bank board Chair Suman Singha said. “Normally, we serve about 8,000 people a month,” Singha said. “But all of a sudden we saw the numbers skyrocketing.”

The organization served nearly 10,000 people in October and reports that half of those people are children or seniors. Many of the seniors served by the food bank worked low-income jobs for decades but never made enough to plan for retirement, he said.

“It’s really sad to see people in their golden years experiencing this,” he said.

The Elk Grove food bank, which accepts clothing and food donations in Elk Grove and financial support online, worked with the city to double down on fundraising efforts in the weeks before the giveaway, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said.

“We had an outpouring of support because of the government shutdown,” said Singh-Allen, a former board member of the food bank. The food bank received a lot of support from community members, as well large donors including the Sky River Casino, the Wilton Rancheria, the city of Elk Grove, and longtime Elk Grove resident Gil Albiani, she said. “It takes the whole community to respond to the growing need.”

Working with the food bank drove home the need for events like the turkey giveaway for the mayor.

“I have seen the faces of hunger up close and personal,” Singh-Allen said.

At a time when the food bank has never seen greater need, community support is critical, especially around the holidays. “We can be that little glimmer of hope of better days ahead,” she said. “It’s organizations like the food bank that provide those emergency services in times of need.”

Events like the Elk Grove giveaway were echoed across the capital region Friday and Saturday. Joey’s Food Locker, operated by the Natomas Unified School District, distributed Thanksgiving meals to more than 1,000 families on Friday.

Other turkey and food drives took place at Cosumnes River College, the Stockton Boulevard Partnership, South Sacramento Christian Center, and River City High School through the Yolo County Children’s Alliance’s Community Giveaway Day.

While food insecurity is a persistent problem, Singha has seen what a Thanksgiving turkey means to a family that cannot afford one.

“It’s a time of celebration,” Singha said. “Just because you don’t have the resources yourself doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to some joy.”

But this year, that joy came at a steeper price.

Wholesale prices for frozen turkeys jumped 40% over last year, CBS News reported, reaching an estimated $1.32 per pound, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The spike is tied to reduced supply and avian flu outbreaks that have affected more than 3 million birds in 2025, CBS said.

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people — including turkey and sides — averaged $58 last year, the American Farm Bureau Federation told CBS.

And while economists expected retail prices to remain relatively stable, food banks and donors faced increased costs at a time of rising need. Those pressures are being felt across the region after CalFresh recipients faced days of uncertainty during the now-ended federal government shutdown.

The pausing of benefits affected more than 40 million Americans, including 5.5 million Californians, before being restored more than a week ago.

If you need food right now

Here’s where Sacramento-area residents can go to find a food distribution site near them:

Sacramento County: sacramentofoodbank.org

El Dorado, Nevada and Placer counties: feedingthefoothills.org

Yolo County: yolofoodbank.org

Yuba, Sutter counties: feedingys.org

This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 1:19 PM.

Daniel Lempres

The Sacramento Bee

916-321-1056

Daniel Lempres is an investigative reporter at The Sacramento Bee focused on government accountability. Before joining The Bee, his investigations appeared in outlets like the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.