With Thanksgiving around the corner, Americans are preparing to gather with family and friends. This year, many families will be dealing with record-high grocery store prices for their holiday meal.

A community-led organization is working to make sure everyone can have a happy Thanksgiving.

Jamie Levato, the executive director of Fareground, began her morning at the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, where she picked up nearly 5,000 pounds of food. The group is hosting a Thanksgiving-themed food giveaway.

“We’re going to have turkeys and chickens and hams, and that sort of thing,” Levato said, “along with a bunch of other items.”

The next stop for Levato is an apartment complex in Beacon. She and her team of volunteers get busy unloading the food and setting up for the farmer’s market-style event.

“This is actually my first free marketplace that I am a part of, that I am organizing, that is during the Thanksgiving season,” Levato said. “So I am really looking forward to being able to provide a lot of nourishing foods that are things that people look for around the Thanksgiving season.”

Levato joined Fareground in December 2021, and since then she has noticed an increase in need.

“More and more people have been coming out. Part of that, I think, is that people are learning about what we are offering, and that we’re providing a robust amount of food,” she said. “I think part of it is also increased food cost, inflation, and I think there’s also just a lot of cost-of-living increases, housing cost. A lot of things are going up.”

Cristi Mclean has been a volunteer with Fareground for two years.

“Being a volunteer is a joyful experience to be able to help and give out than always receiving,” Mclean said. “I’m a helper. I like to help out, so it feels good when you’re able to help your fellow residents.”

She lives at the apartment complex where Fareground is set up on this day. Mclean isn’t just a volunteer; she’s also a recipient.

“We’re going through a recession, kinda like a depression, so everything we get is definitely needed and wanted,” Mclean said. “And it’s good for everybody that we can help. And I’m glad to be a part of it.”

The price per pound of turkey at grocery stores has gone up anywhere from 40 cents to more than $1, compared to last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fareground wants to make sure every member of the community who wants to celebrate Thanksgiving can do so.

“I’m surely grateful that they’re here,” Mclean said. “I’m thinking everybody else here is grateful that we can actually have someone come, and give us the help that we need so that we can have a beautiful holiday.”

Fareground served 182 families in the community at the event, ranging in demographics from families with children to couples and seniors. It was a diverse group that represented all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

“It takes a team to do this,” Levato said. “It takes our whole community to come together to serve each other.”

Fareground plans to hold another Thanksgiving-themed free marketplace on Nov. 21 in Wappingers Falls.