"Banquet-in-a-Box" provides holiday meals

The Salvation Army needs people to provide food for needy families this holiday season. A new "Banquet-in-a-Box" program will make it easy for people to provide all of the fixings for a home-cooked Christmas dinner.

"Banquet-in-a-Box" is the creation of a Christmas dinner gift box that will be given to a family that has requested assistance from The Salvation Army. The box contains enough food for a family of four. Donors can provide a frozen turkey or a supermarket gift card to purchase the turkey. Other suggested items are stuffing mix, margarine, cranberry sauce, a pie or pie filling and crust, two cans of vegetables, two cans of fruit, a loaf of bread, a bag of potatoes, gravy, juice or punch, and gelatin. The estimated cost of each box is $35.

The boxes should be delivered to The Salvation Army at 100 West Avenue, Rochester. They can be dropped off any weekday between 8:30 and 4 p.m. They will also be open on the first two Saturdays of December (6 and 13) from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The dinners will be distributed later in the month to families who have applied for assistance. For information, call 987-9540 extension 2233.