(BROOME COUNTY, NY) – With overwhelming support from the community, Holiday Giving Boxes will help provide 275 complete holiday meals to local families this week after exceeding a fundraising goal of $16,500. For the fourth year, representatives from all partner agencies, including the Office of Assemblywoman Lupardo, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, CHOW, Broome-Tioga BOCES School Nutrition Services, County Executive Garnar, and The Leadership Alliance joined together at the Broome County Regional Farmer’s Market to pack and then deliver boxes to families across Broome County. 

Each box includes a turkey, stuffing, corn, cranberry sauce, and sparkling cider, along with locally grown potatoes, carrots, squash and onions from local farmers. Cookies provided by Sinfully Sweet, a local bakery, are also included in the boxes, along with a holiday cookbook developed by Nutritionists at CCE Broome.

An online fundraiser was set up to support the initiative, with a goal of raising enough to provide holiday meals to 275 families, including 30 for local veterans using funds from the Broome County Veterans Resilience Project. In total, over 1,440 people were provided a nutritious holiday meal through this initiative. Thanks to generous donor support, the group hopes to boost the number of boxes provided in 2024.