Gina's Giving Back Prepares For 20K+ Thanksgiving Meal Orders In Year 15 Across North Shore

LYNNFIELD, MA — Gina Goodwin's passion project — Gina's Giving Back — aimed at feeding every person in need of a hot meal on Thanksgiving, is on pace to break last year's record of 22,000 orders this holiday season.

But the Lynnfield small business owner is going to need a lot of help and donations to make it all happen.

Goodwin told Patch that as of Tuesday, she had received 12,477 orders with the big day still more than two months away. She said that puts her well on pace to blow past last year's high mark of more than 20,000.

"Assuming we are going to exceed that," she said. "Of course, depending on donations."

• Salem's October Club Aims To Turn Halloween Tourism Boom Into Lasting Impact

While those have come pouring in each year from food drives at Essex Tech, Malden Catholic, Treadwell's Ice Cream and her own School Street Foods in Lynnfield, every donation counts, with Goodwin estimating the cost of a meal for a family of five at $75 to $100 this year and the cost of an individual meal at $20.

She said Peabody Municipal Light Company is one of the places that has added a collection location for this year's drive, while she has also created a GoFundMe where businesses and individuals can donate to the recognized 5013c. Goodwin said $10 gift cards to area grocery stores are also accepted through the Gina's Giving Back social media page.

"We never refuse anybody for a meal," she told Patch. "No questions asked. There's no proof (required). If you say you need a meal, you get a meal. That's the end of it."

There are three options for Thanksgiving meals.

The first option involves picking up a meal box to cook at home. That includes stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, a turkey, dessert and a handmade card.

"It's heartfelt," she said of the cards that are made by students and volunteers. "People will ask me: 'Why don't you just buy a box of cards?' That's not special. When someone in the community, or a child, takes the time to make a card with a turkey on it, that's special."

There is also a delivery network of cooked meals that Goodwin prepares. Families of players from North Shore middle and high school hockey teams pack up their vehicles and deliver the meals throughout the North Shore for up to seven hours a night during Thanksgiving week.

Other student volunteers include high schoolers who are looking for community service hours to satisfy a school or college application requirement.

The third option is for those who might be looking for some company to go along with their meals on the holiday at School Street Foods in Lynnfield. Goodwin said she opens her doors all day on the holiday.

"That's for people who don't even necessarily need food but who want to share a meal with someone else," she said. "They can come in and get a fresh, hot meal and some conversation.

"We are there all day on Thanksgiving, cook the meals on the spot, and serve them hot."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)