Fall Food Drive Aims to Donate 500 Thanksgiving Meals to Local Families 

by | Nov 6, 2026 | Uncategorized

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The Marcella Foundation’s 2nd Annual Fall Food Drive is underway. With a simple $20 grocery run, community members can help provide a Thanksgiving dinner to families in need. Folks can pick up a Fall Food Drive tote bag at a participating collection location, fill it with Thanksgiving sides, and return it to the collection bin. They are asking for bags to be filled and returned by Friday, November 20th so the food can be distributed before Thanksgiving.

Filled bags will be matched with a donation of a turkey from the El Dorado County Community Turkey Drive that Kings Meats, a butcher shop on the west slope, organizes. Together, they plan to provide 500 Thanksgiving meals to families in South Lake Tahoe.

Already in less than one week of the food drive running, community members have filled 45 bags! If you would like to fill a bag with food donations, you can find them at one of our participating locations: 

  • Artemis Lakefront Cafe
  • Azul Latin Kitchen
  • Basecamp Pizza
  • Cascade Kitchens
  • Compass Real Estate
  • Cuppa Tahoe
  • Crazy Good Bakery
  • Desolation Gym
  • Early 90’s Coffee
  • Edgewood Tahoe Resort 
  • Elevate Wellness Lounge
  • Ernie’s Coffee house
  • Flow & Glow Wellness Med Spa
  • Fox & Hound
  • Margaritaville Lake Tahoe
  • Meyers Elementary School
  • Mountainhouse Church
  • Sierra Community Church
  • Sierra House Elementary School
  • South Lake Brewing at the Y
  • South of North Brewing
  • South Tahoe Public Utility District
  • Tahoe Bagel Al Tahoe
  • Tahoe Bagel on Kingsbury
  • Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic
  • Tahoe Green Dispensary
  • Tahoe Valley Elementary School
  • The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • The Woods
  • Tillson Law
  • Whiskey Dicks Saloon

All of these local businesses, schools, churches, and offices have collection bins out to accept non-perishable food donations–any canned or dry food item that is unexpired, unopened, and in good condition is accepted. Whether you are able to fill a bag with donations or bring in a canned item or two, it makes a difference. 

These participants have also signed up to have staff members fill a Fall Food Drive bag to help reach the goal of 500 meals: 

  • Keep Tahoe Blue (staff only)
  • Knight Monsters (staff only)
  • Lake Tahoe Unified School District (staff only)
  • South Tahoe High School (students and clubs)
  • South Tahoe Refuse (staff only)
  • Tahoe Kids Academy (students and family only)
  • Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (staff only)
  • Tahoe Rim Trail Association (staff only)

All food donations go to local recipients, such as Christmas Cheer All Year, Family Resource Center, Phoenix Food Pantry, Bread & Broth, Boys & Girls Club, Tahoe Youth and Family Services, SOS Outreach, Catalyst Community, Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless, and many more. 

To learn more about the Fall Food Drive, please visit the website: www.feedtahoe.org/fallfooddrive 

If you would like to learn more about the El Dorado County Community Turkey Drive, please visit this site to support their efforts: https://edcf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=3640