Union Gospel Mission Preparing To Feed 50,000 This Holiday Week
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It is a busy week at Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul as they prepare to feed 50,000 men, women and children over the course of the next week.
Folks who have registered for the giveaway have all day Monday and Tuesday to pick up their food.
"We are looking at a roomful of grocery bags as well as large bins of food," said UGM development director Brian Molohon.
"It's a beautiful snapshot of our community," Molohon said. "We've had several hundred volunteers who packed the bags."
People began lining up well before the mission opened Monday morning. They'll be there through the night, and all day Tuesday. Some who've showed up haven't registered.
"We do have that happen," Molohon said. "We can't promise everybody a bag of food, but we will accommodate as many people as possible."
Registration ended two weeks ago, and more than 10,000 signed up to pick up the bags of food. Each bag has enough food to feed a family of five.
Inside the bag: a bag of rice, a box of Stove-Top stuffing, cans of green beans, corn, sweet peas, cranberry sauce and yams. When people arrive for the pickup, they are also given a bag of potatoes and a frozen turkey.
Hundreds of frozen turkeys were wheeled in to the mission early Monday morning.
"I love it," said Val Cordy, who's unloaded turkeys for Thanksgiving at UGM for the past five years. "It's a nice thing to do for people, they enjoy it."
Cordy knows a thing or two about unloading 30-pound boxes filled with frozen turkeys.
"Just be careful," he said. "There's really no special way. Use your knees so you don't hurt your back, and that's about it."