With the holiday season fast approaching, Springfield Catholic Charities and St. John's Breadline are asking area individuals to consider aiding the less fortunate this Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Holy Family Food Pantry is requesting help to ensure that nearly 350 families seeking assistance for the Thanksgiving holiday will receive a food basket. Each basket will include the fixings for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, plus groceries to last one week.

Additionally, St. John's Breadline will serve an estimated 750 individuals a Thanksgiving meal. Catholic Charities also provides food baskets and gifts for Christmas.

Catholic Charities has a long history of helping others all year through, but is especially busy during the holiday season. "We've been running the holiday programs for over 25 years," said Janet Nelson, supervisor at Holy Family Food Pantry. "Every year we serve a total of about 850 families during the holidays.

"Last year we started a new tradition of holding a holiday store where parents can come in and pick out gifts for their children. We try to have three gifts per child," Nelson said. "We had a wonderful reception of the holiday store last year. We felt good knowing that the parent is personally picking something for their child."

Nelson said that Thanksgiving turkeys are needed by both Holy Family Food Pantry and by St. John's Breadline. The most needed items for Christmas are hams to complete the Christmas baskets, learning toys, gift cards, and gifts for teens. "We have plenty of room for storage if people want to donate early," Nelson said.

This year's Thanksgiving basket distribution will be held at the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School's West Campus on Monday, Nov. 19. The holiday store will be held at St. Cabrini Parish Dec. 18-20.

To adopt a family or donate a turkey, food or funds for the Thanksgiving baskets, call Nelson at (217) 523-2450 or send donations to Holy Family Food Pantry, 1023 E. Washington, Springfield, IL 62703. Nelson is also the contact for food and household donations for the Christmas program. To donate gifts for the Christmas program, contact Diane Hopewell, supervisor at the Crisis Assistance Office at (217) 523-4551. To donate a turkey for the St. John's Breadline Thanksgiving dinner, call Kevin Kindred at (217) 528-6098.