Thanksgiving is once again upon us.

For the majority of us the annual holiday serves as an unofficial family reunion as loved ones come together for the first time in probably a year or in some cases even longer. The morning usually begins with kids in the living room watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in which Santa will make an appearance. As the kids are distracted, mom and grandma are usually busy in the kitchen with putting the plump bird either in the oven or outside on the back patio submerged in the deep fryer. Hopefully in either approach the bird was injected with some seasoning — because nothing is worse than a bland and dry turkey.

The rest of the morning is usually spent with side dishes such as mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing or dressing and green bean casserole and of course pumpkin pies. All of which are furiously made in the cramped kitchen which is increasingly getting hotter by the hour.

As the day progresses, the house fills up with loved ones as many times the men of the households sneak off to huddle around the television set watching the slate of football games. Football watching though will always be cut short when it is time for everyone to sit around the table and be thankful for the meal in front of them. 

Grace will be said and then everyone will promptly dig in to the delicious food at hand, and of course there is always that one person in the family that will eat way too much and will need to lay down moaning from having too many slices of pie.

All in all, it is usually a pretty remarkable day for most of us.

The thing is not everyone will get to have that idealistic Thanksgiving Day experience.

There are many people in our community who don’t have a home to go back to this week — as they don’t have a home at all. There are others who do not have the means to put on a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal due to being laid off or unemployed or living on disability. These people will struggle to find a hot meal on a  daily basis much less have the means to put on such a lavish Thanksgiving Day spread.

Thankfully though there are people and groups in the Teche Area that are dedicated to helping these people, and not just during the holiday season. There are countless different faith-based and civic organizations that give their time and money to make sure that the community’s less fortunate are taken care of.

That is why it is so important for us as fellow residents to help those organizations who are helping others. A great way to do that is to have your business or organization hold its own food drive for the 31st Annual Food Net For Families Drive that will be held on December 5 at the Sugar Cane Festival Building parking lot. Donations will be accepted between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This year’s drive will assist six food pantries here in Iberia Parish that provide assistance to the poor and needy. Those six are: St. Nicholas Concern in Lydia, St. Francis Diner, Social Service Center, Solomon House, The Glorious Church, and Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. 

So please take time out this week and next to put aside something for the Food Drive. Regardless if you purchase an entire shopping basket full of groceries or simply donate a few canned goods from your own pantry, every little bit counts. 

This week is the week to give thanks. Let’s make sure we do our part to make it a memorable holiday for everyone.

RAYMOND PARTSCH III

MANAGING EDITOR