LYNNFIELD — With food security an issue for many needy North Shore area families, many local restaurants and non-profit organizations do their part providing free Thanksgiving meals to those who simply don’t have the means to afford them.

Longtime Peabody and new Lynnfield resident Gina Goodwin may be outdoing all of them.

This year her Gina’s Giving Back (GGB) nonprofit, founded a little more than 11 years ago, is on target to provide close to 17,000 free dinners this year. 

That’s right – 17,000.

Goodwin remembers the first year when she delivered turkeys to five families. By year two, she was up to 50 meals and the third year, she provided close to 100. With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, demand soared seemingly overnight with Goodwin providing close to 500 meals.The demand has been increasing ever since.

“All of a sudden we were doing thousands of meals and then last year we hit 15,000 and this year we are currently looking at about 16,500 meals so I won’t be surprised if we reach 17,000.”

GGB isn’t one size fits all; there are three options.

GGB provides boxes full with all the fixings for a nearly soup-to-nuts dinner for families that prefer to cook their meals at home.

“Say people can cook, but they can’t afford it so we provide everything in that box, including a gift card for a turkey or ham that they can use at supermarkets like Market Basket depending on what they like. We also have turkeys they can carry home instead of the gift card if that’s their choice. So they end up getting all their sides and desserts.”

The second option is what Goodwin calls the “heat-and-eat” meal complete with roasted turkey and all the traditional sides, including pies and desserts.

“I cook the meals at home, like I always have,” Goodwin said. “My seven kids help me. We just made 500 meals on Sunday.” 

Deliveries are made the Tuesday before Thanksgiving by the Middleton-based Wings Hockey Club.

“The parents pick up the meals and take it back to the rink where they sort them by towns and every parent takes a community,” Goodwin said. “They just love it.”

When she was living in Peabody (she moved to Lynnfield this summer), a hand-made card made by Peabody students was also included in each meal box.

“It was great because the Peabody kids were involved starting with the preschools,” Goodwin said. 

The third option is something new, which Goodwin is looking forward to.

“They can come to my new Lynnfield restaurant, School Street Foods, on Salem Street, right next to the firehouse, and get a hot meal to either eat here or take home,” Goodwin said. “It’s totally free. People have been asking me what they need to bring and the answer is nothing. It will be a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey and stuffing and potatoes and whatever else Javier (chef Baez) decides to make.”

Goodwin said she has no idea how many people will come to the restaurant. Everyone, regardless of their financial situation, is welcome to come. 

“Truly I have no idea as we’ve never done it before this year,” Goodwin said. “We don’t ever really shut at all. We never say no. If there is a need, we want to be there to help. 

Despite the increase in demand, the same cannot be said about donations, Goodwin said.

“Donations this year are the lowest they’ve ever been,” Goodwin said. “I’m a non-profit 501 c(3) so I depend on donations. I’ve raised $10,000 – $15,000 every year but not this year.” 

Anyone wishing to make a donation, can do so on the GGB GoFundMe page. While the organization doesn’t accept cash donations, people may donate gift cards to be used to purchase turkeys and food items. Goodwin said gift card amounts are limited to $10 apiece.

“You can get a turkey for $10 so I don’t want to ask people for more,” she said. “I’ll make exceptions but I don’t want people to think they have to donate more than the cost of a turkey.”

Goodwin’s goodwill seemingly never ends. The day after Thanksgiving, she jumps into Christmas mode with a holiday toy drive geared at bringing joy to some 350 children living in shelters or motels. She compiles a list of all the children (anonymously) complete with ages and their wish list items.

“People just love buying for these kids, who really need it,” Goodwin said. “They absolutely jump on it.” 

While there currently is a waitlist of about 100 kids, Goodwin said she expects to be able to take care of at least 50 of them. Goodwin asks just one thing and that is for parents to be reasonable when making their kids wish lists.

“We want people to be fair about it – a basketball, a soccer ball, games, things that they would go to Target and buy like I would for my kids,” Goodwin said.

Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected]