The holidays are a time to highlight kindness and generosity. At the Y, it’s a season for us to really focus on one of our core pillars—social responsibility.  We had a lot of help from youth in the community this year, which really warmed our holiday hearts.                                

Every year, Ys around Seattle participate in a program known as the Thanksgiving Food Drive. This program helps to support those in need within our communities, especially those that struggle during the holidays. The Y distributes a list that details all the food items that make up a Thanksgiving basket: stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie mix and anything else they can give. The Y also purchases a turkey for each family. The Y may organize and supply the baskets, but community members are the driving force behind this effort year after year.

This year, an Adventure Guides group went to a local grocery store to help gather donations for the Thanksgiving Food Basket Drive.

Adventure Guides is an action-oriented program designed for fathers and their children (K-3^rd grade) to strengthen their bond by spending quality time doing a wide variety of activities. This program is run out of the Coal Creek Family YMCA—with many activities organized by the Y for groups to choose from.

Each girl from the group was given her own nametag and basket to shop the list of food needed for the donations. The store even reserved a checkout line so the girls could swipe and bag their own grocery donations. The Thanksgiving Food Drive is a program that Adventure Guides is deeply passionate about, and they’re thankful for local stores like the Eastgate Albertsons who share in the season of giving!