Providing meals for the state with the fourth largest homeless population is no small feat, and the holiday season brings an even bigger task for the Phoenix Rescue Mission. The nonprofit serves three meals every day and is adding multiple events for the entire community to help during the holidays in its second annual “Feeding Phoenix: More than a Meal” campaign.

For almost 60 years, the Phoenix Rescue Mission has launched assistance programs to accommodate the growing homeless population in Arizona. Maricopa County alone has more than 13,000 homeless people. Programs include the Hope Coach Street Outreach, Homeless Emergency Services, Men’s Addiction Recovery Program and the Changing Lives Center for Women and Children, which was not fully occupied last year. The facility is now fully occupied this year, which means the organization needs more donations. Nicole Pena, the public relations director at Phoenix Rescue Mission, says promising the community 100,000 meals for this campaign is just one way to show that the organization is “dedicated to transform[ing] the city.”

From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, the entire community can come together to provide men, women and children with food, water, blankets, sleeping bags, socks and other items. On Nov. 9, visit the Frozen Turkey Open House at the shelter campus. Simply bring a frozen turkey to the shelter from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., feast on a barbecue lunch and even get a tour of the facility. The second event, The Fill-a-Box Feed a Family Turkey Delivery, is on Nov. 22 from 9 a.m. to noon. Guests can put together a food box for a family. At the end of the holiday season, the center will host an Adopt-a-Family event from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 20. You can drop off your chosen family’s wish list items from 9 a.m. to noon. 

And the holidays aren’t the only time you can help, Pena says. “What we’re looking for from the community is support. Not only [with] canned food, but we also know that it costs $1.92 for us to feed a homeless person. So of course donations are always welcome.”

To learn more about the “Feeding Phoenix: More than a Meal” campaign visit www.phoenixrescuemission.org.