United Way and Partners Serve 625 Haverhill and Lawrence Families Thanksgiving Meals with Gift Cards

File photograph. (Image licensed by Ingram Image.)

The United Way says 625 families in Haverhill and Lawrence are enjoying a Thanksgiving meal today in part thanks to gift cards distributed through a partnership with United Way, Emmaus and Family Services of Merrimack Valley.

The ongoing COVID-19 public health and economic crisis has both increased the number of families in need and created new challenges for getting Thanksgiving meals out in person this holiday. United Way provided a record number of 15,000 families across 23 communities with gift cards to purchase food for a Thanksgiving meal. In 2019, United Way provided 11,000 families with bags of food for a Thanksgiving meal.

Local United Way President and CEO Bob Giannino said, “With the ongoing crisis and unemployment rates as high as 30 percent in hard-hit cities, countless workers in our region remain underemployed with reduced hours and are struggling to make ends meet.”

Besides Emmaus and Family Services of the Merrimack Valley, agency partners include Catholic Charities and Merrimack Valley Food Bank.

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