Peninsula Nonprofits Get Thousands Of Turkey Donations From Meta

EAST PALO ALTO, CA — Meta, the corporation formerly known as Facebook, donated thousands of farm boxes and turkeys to Bay Area organizations for Thanksgiving.

The organizations included two Peninsula nonprofits: The Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula and the Ecumenical Hunger Program, which both received 1,000 farm boxes and 1,000 turkeys for Thanksgiving.

Meta’s Community Mobile Market donates between 2,200 and 2,500 farm boxes to over 20 organizations each week, according to the company.

The Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, which primarily serves Redwood City, East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park, was able to provide services to over 2,000 people thanks to Meta’s donation, according to James Harris, the organization’s vice president of operations.

“We feel like we’re really fortunate to have them as partners of our agency,” Harris said to Patch. “They’ve partnered with us during Thanksgiving, during Christmas and in various other ways throughout the year, regardless of how small it may be. I think they’re just critical partners.”

The Thanksgiving farm boxes included a week’s worth of seasonal organic produce and traditional holiday-themed staples, along with printouts of recipes to help people cook their holiday sides.

Lakesha Roberts, the associate director of East Palo Alto-based Ecumenical Hunger Program, said that the pre-packed farm boxes helped save time on not only purchasing the produce, but also finding volunteers to pack them because the number of volunteers is limited due to the pandemic.

“They’ve definitely been a tremendous support and a continuous support before and especially during the pandemic, donating snacks and beverages and lunches to families to supplement everything that we’re getting,” Roberts said to Patch.

Meta is planning to distribute 107,000 farm boxes in 2021 as part of its ongoing Weekly Donation Program, according to the company.