Boca Raton, FL, October 8, 2025 – Boca Helping Hands is seeking support from the community to distribute meals to families for Thanksgiving. Its 21st annual Thanksgiving Box Brigade program, which provides a turkey, and a box filled with everything a family needs to prepare a holiday meal, will feed approximately 24,000 people. Members of the community can get involved by donating the cost of a box for $29.72 at bocahelpinghands.org/thanksgiving.
One in nine people in Palm Beach County are struggling to put food on the table.Rising food costs, housing expenses, and stagnant wages have only intensified the need for hunger relief programs in Palm Beach County. According to the 2024 Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) Report for Florida, 46% of Palm Beach County households struggled to make ends meet, with 12% of those living below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and 35% earning above the FPL but not enough to afford the most basic budget.
“We recognize the difficulties many families are experiencing, and my wife, Anita and I are proud to once again support the Thanksgiving Box Brigade this year,” said east Boca Raton sponsor Bob Kriensky. Other Thanksgiving Box Brigade supporters include the Overall Sponsor, Dalfen Industrial. East Boca Sponsors are Bob and Anita Kriensky; West Boca Sponsor is Humana; Boynton Beach Sponsor is Purity Wholesale Grocers Inc.; Delray Beach Sponsor is Vertical Bridge Charitable Network; and the Lake Worth Sponsor is Avalon Bay Communities.
Boca Helping Hands will distribute the turkeys and Thanksgiving meal boxes to current Pantry Bag Program clients the weekend before Thanksgiving (Nov. 22 and 23) at its five drive-thru distribution locations in east Boca Raton, west Boca, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and Lake Worth.
“We are deeply appreciative of the way that the community helps each year with their food drives and Thanksgiving box donations,” said BHH Executive Director Andrew Hagen. “Thanks to them, families who might not have had enough money to afford to celebrate can now share a holiday meal together.”
Although there has been tremendous community support for the Thanksgiving Box Brigade program, food insecurity remains a problem year-round – especially now with reductions in funding for food.
Any contributions that exceed Thanksgiving expenses will be used toward our food programs throughout the year, helping to support the 181,000 families in Palm Beach County facing food insecurity.
About Boca Helping Hands
Since 1998, Boca Helping Hands has grown from a humble soup kitchen into a lifeline for nearly 35,000 people each year, including families struggling to put food on the table, parents choosing between rent and childcare, seniors skipping meals to afford medication.
In 2024, we served over 64,000 hot meals and distributed more than 112,000 pantry bags across Palm Beach County. But the need goes beyond hunger. We help children through our Backpacks Program, sending weekend meals home with students at 15 local schools, because no child should go hungry when school is out.
We support families in crisis with emergency assistance for rent, utilities, and childcare. We open doors to affordable healthcare through our partnership with Genesis Community Health. At Boca Helping Hands, we are able to walk alongside people ready to rebuild, offering job training, mentoring, and life skills classes that lead to lasting independence.
Every meal served, student trained for a meaningful career, every bill paid, every handheld, it all makes a difference. At Boca Helping Hands, we don’t just meet needs. We restore dignity, inspire hope, and help people believe in a better tomorrow. We don’t only give a handout, we give a hand up.
Boca Helping Hands is a partner agency of The Town of Palm Beach United Way. Since 1945, the Town of Palm Beach United Way has been committed to improving lives and building strong communities throughout Palm Beach County by focusing on programs and priorities that promote education, health, and financial stability.
Boca Helping Hands holds accreditation for Sound Nonprofit Management from Nonprofits First, has a Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid/GuideStar, and has been a Charity Navigator Four-Star Charity for 17 consecutive years. Boca Helping Hands is located at 1500 NW 1st Court, Boca Raton, FL 33432. For more information, please visit BocaHelpingHands.org.