LAWRENCE — A poor economy, combined with rising unemployment and record demand for food assistance, has left Lazarus House in a precarious position: The nonprofit program doesn't have enough food for Thanksgiving.

Ken Campbell, food coordinator for Lazarus House, said more than 700 families have signed up for the Thanksgiving meal this year, up from around 200 last year.

"The increase has been pretty dramatic," said Campbell, 64, who's been the food coordinator two years. "We're seeing a lot of new faces. This is significantly greater than last year, and last year was significantly greater than the year before."

He said high unemployment is hitting low-income people the hardest, with many unskilled labor positions being lost.

"People aren't seeing an end to this economy," he said. "They don't have that hopefulness of finding a job at a tough time of year."

As a result, demand for food assistance is hitting hard at the organization's daily soup kitchen, which serves breakfast and lunch to more than 1,000 people a week at the Good Shepherd Center on Hamsphire Srreet.

Demand also has skyrocketed for the organization's weekly food distribution at Plains Community Center on Hampshire Street.

"We used to get 200 families, now we're up to 400 families," he said.

The organization also provides bag lunches at night for people who may have missed out on lunch or breakfast, and gives out bread at the thrift shops.

In all, the organization delivers about seven tons of food a week.

Now, Lazarus House's annual drive for Thanksgiving meals could be in peril.

"Food is at a real low point," he said. "We don't have enough to make any food orders now."

He promised that Lazarus House will make good on its promise to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the families that have signed up.

"The good news is we have not missed any of our commitments," he said. "We always have enough food for the soup kitchen, shelter and Wednesday distributions. It just takes a lot to make it happen."

He said food drives are under way and that he expects deliveries to start coming in later this week.

"We are in the process of compiling how many boxes we are going to need for Thanksgiving," he said. "We'll probably be looking at 1,500 boxes."

Based on the size of a family, some families get one box while others get two.

And it's not just turkey and trimmings, he said.

"Every family will get a holiday food box with a turkey, potatoes, carrots, squash, bread and pastry — enough for a full Thanksgiving dinner-plus. In the food order, besides all the fixings, they also get peanut butter, pasta, spaghetti sauce and more," he said. "It's not just for the day itself, but also for meals beyond that."

He said the holidays are a difficult time of year, both for families and food assistance programs like Lazarus House and others in the region, including Bread & Roses on Newbury Street and Cor Unum Meal Center on Salem Street.

Once Thanksgiving wraps up, everyone shifts to Christmas.

"Between us, Bread and Roses or Cor Unum, I hope people are getting what they need," he said.

how to donate

Thanksgiving meal donations can be dropped off at the Good Shepherd Center at 412 Hampshire St., or, after hours at Lazarus House on 44 Holly St.

What's needed: Turkeys, trimming, all other nonperishable food items.

Any organizations doing their own food drives can either drop items off at Lazarus House or have a shipment picked up.

See: lazarushouse.org for more details.

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