Tupelo Salvation Army volunteers prepare for Thanksgiving Day

Record inflation means more people are food insecure and need help

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – The Tupelo Salvation Army put out a call for volunteers this Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

Volunteers were working hard to make sure that no one went hungry on Thanksgiving Day.

Captain LeAnna Marion was ready for her first Thanksgiving at the Tupelo Salvation Army.

“Food prep is going on,” LeAnna Marion said.

LeAnna Marion and her husband Thomas Marion, also a Captain, came to the Tupelo Salvation Army five months ago. They oversee the area’s only homeless shelter and said record-high inflation means more people need their services.

“I can remember in my life, losing a job, ending up homeless, staying in my car, until I was able to get another job. So, it really is sometimes just one catastrophe or one small thing away from somebody being homeless,” LeAnna Marion said.

LeAnna Marion said with the help of volunteers, the Tupelo Salvation Army planned on feeding up to 4,000 people on Thanksgiving Day. Meals would be delivered to those who could not make it to the Carnation Street Community Center.

“I would say, right now we have 280 meals we are delivering, and that number will continue to climb. With the cost of food increasing, and that stimulus that was given on food stamps, now gone, people are really struggling for food and there’s a lot more food insecurity right now,” she said.

That’s why the Tupelo Salvation Army has put out the call for more volunteers, or “Heroes”.  It was also costing the ministry more to meet the needs of those who were struggling.

“This year’s meal is around $10,000 to provide. We shopped the sales, as much as we could,” Marion said.

Although this will be their first Thanksgiving at the Tupelo Salvation Army, Captains LeAnna and Thomas Marion are seeing the ‘Tupelo Spirit’ in action and they are confident all needs will be met, with prayer, donations, and a lot of hard work.

If you would like to know how to volunteer, or donate, you can go to volunteernems.org, you can call the Tupelo Salvation Army at (662)842-9222, or stop by 527 Carnation Street in Tupelo.

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