November 26, 2025, 5:50 PM MST
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered with the Alaska Food Bank to serve approximately 12,000 Thanksgiving dinners across the state.
The event, called “Thanksgiving Blessings,” was held at 11 venues over two days in November.
Daniel Bentle, Alaska Food Bank’s chief philanthropy officer, said this is the largest event of the year, which took months of planning and collaboration between dozens of businesses and faith-based organizations.
“(The church) stepped in to provide shipment after shipment of support,” Bentre said in a news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
One of the things the church provided was butter. In a state with only one dairy farm, it’s a delicacy that can cost up to $10 a pound.
“The dairy has been brought into the state and the support we’ve gotten from (the church) is incredible,” he said.
Nearly 15% of Alaskans struggle with food insecurity, according to a news release.
Crystal Poole and her four children were among the first families in Palmer to receive meals such as canned goods, potatoes, stuffing mix, biscuit mix, pie and frozen turkey.
“It’s still tough being a single mom with all the kids here and working full time,” Poole said. “The cost of food is really high right now. When you think of Thanksgiving, you want to feed your family a delicious meal. It’s definitely a blessing.”
Jessica Betham, who went to distribute at an Anchorage church meetinghouse, also said it was a blessing. “I don’t know what to do. My two youngest (children) have kidney disease. I have to work from home, so I can’t make as much (money) as I would like. So this will help me a lot.”
Volunteers, including Latter-day Saints and full-time missionaries, served meals at several locations.
Wasilla Alaska Stake President Jeff Taylor said, “We are so grateful to everyone who is joining us. The world would be a lonely place without those who can serve us.”
Some of the volunteers were past recipients. Betham felt their love.
“I like that it makes you feel like you’re not receiving benefits,” Betham said. “It’s warm and welcoming and has a ‘we’re here to help’ feeling.”
This is just one part of the church’s relationship with the Alaska Food Bank. For example, in October the church donated a semi-truckload of food from the Episcopal Central Depository in Salt Lake City to support several other challenges in the state.
