As families in Prince William County continue to bear the brunt of the economic turmoil during the pandemic, local organizations are helping out as the calendar moves into the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Community Feeding Taskforce will prepare 10,000 Thanksgiving boxes for families in the area from Nov. 9-24. Volunteer groups interested in making boxes can sign up for three-hour time slots as part of the “Build-a-Box Contest.”

On Nov. 18, the taskforce will support the Prince William Chamber of Commerce’s toy drive event. Twenty taskforce “special rescue heroes” will transport toys collected at the Uptown Alley and Appliance Connection donation drop-off sites and deliver them to two local non-profits, SERVE and ACTS. Volunteers interested in delivering toys on Nov. 18 can sign up here.

The Community Feeding Taskforce, a partnership between Prince William County, Action in Community Through Service (ACTS), the Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and the Prince William County Community Foundation, was established shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to coordinate food distribution for those in need.

Since April, the taskforce has provided over six million pounds of food (the equivalent of five million meals), made over 1,100 no-contact emergency food deliveries to families and made over 800 no-contact food deliveries to shut-in senior citizens. Each week, the taskforce receives at least nine tractor trailer loads of USDA Farmers to Families food boxes, 1,500 non-perishable food boxes from the Capital Area Food Bank and donations from 145 food donor partners, which it uses to support 72 food distribution sites.

The Food Helpline is available for those in need Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 703.794.4668. Bilingual volunteers staff the phones. Also, Prince William County has an online map that provides information about free food distribution sites.