The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry has the assembly of its annual Thanksgiving dinner baskets down to a science.

In an effort involving dozens of volunteers, the pantry assembles baskets with everything from the turkey to handmade apple pies and vanilla ice cream, and all the fixings in between, to donate to individuals and families in need. Saturday was the day for packing the baskets and distributing them to families in the parking lot of the St. Vincent de Paul Church in Greenville.

It’s an event that could not come together without help from across the community, said pantry director Kevin Little, especially as the need grows.

“This wonderful community has been so helpful,” Little said.

Even in the last week leading up to the distribution, people were stepping up to fill the demand – a total of 149 baskets, for families ranging in size from a single person to upwards of seven people.

“We didn’t know, even last week, how many turkeys we were going to need. In the last week, more people came to us, and we were short on turkeys,” Little said. “We had 48 from the food bank – the demand is up, and they can only give us what they can. So, we put the word out, and the community was just so good to us. It’s unbelievable.”

Little said the church distributed about 110 baskets last year. He said he recalls a few years ago, the need was usually under 100 baskets.

“We know it makes a difference,” Little said. “And the demand is going up. There are more people having a hard time. Knowing the food pantry is here is a help to them.”

Fern Niemi said that among the donations, a single resident gave 16 full-size turkeys and seven turkey breasts. MilliporeSigma in Jaffrey, which provides turkeys to its employees, had a total of 160 that were unclaimed, and St. Vincent de Paul received 24, with the remainder also donated to other pantries and the food bank.

“That was pretty wonderful,” Little said.

Little said it’s all part of the puzzle that makes the pantry work. Mary Pierce of Birchwood Orchard in Mason allowed volunteers from the pantry to pick their fill of apples – a total of 2,800 pounds worth – which were turned by the New Ipswich Congregational Church’s pie ministry into homemade apple pies which go into the baskets. TD Bank donated bags to pack the dinners in, and the laundry baskets used to pack and transport were sold to the pantry at cost. Members of area churches helped to donate sides and turkeys. Dunkin’ Donuts and Main Street Pastries and More donated breakfast for the volunteers.

The pantry received food for the baskets from Hannaford, Market Basket, Shaw’s, Joe and Sue Bulger’s family farm, Washburn’s Windy Hill Orchard and Sawyer Farm.

And on the day of distribution, Niemi said it takes teams of volunteers to come together to pack the baskets, sort them and add perishables to them right before they’re loaded into cars. This year, the local National Honor Society and Boy Scout troop were among the volunteers. Volunteers Rich Nelson and his wife Kathryn Nelson said volunteer every year now, after Kathryn started volunteering as a child with her grandmother, pantry volunteer Cecilia Koski. Their children are now fourth-generation volunteers.

In addition to Thanksgiving baskets, the church also hosted the annual clothing drive by the Souhegan Lions Club. Brenda Salmonson, zone chair, said this is one of the biggest drives they’ve had, with about twice as many clothing item donations as last year. She said children’s winter items are a high need in the community, and many people were seeking out snow pants, boots, mittens and gloves.

What wasn’t claimed on Saturday will be donated to other charities, such as the Homeless Coalition and clothing collection bins at the churches in New Ipswich and Peterborough and the Nashua Head Start program.

“To me, it’s always good to have this resource,” Salmonson said. “It makes a big difference for some people. And most everyone that comes through here is appreciative of what we do.”

The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry services mainly the areas of Greenville, New Ipswich and Mason, but does not have a strict geographical limit. The pantry is open by appointment any day of the week, or for walk-ins on Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.