Boy Scouts collected 27,000 pounds of canned goods and other nonperishable supplies from area residents last weekend for the 29th annual Community Holiday Food Drive.

That's the good news. The bad news is, that's not nearly enough to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for all the Benton County families who are struggling to make ends meet.

"In the current economy, people are making a tradeoff between food and other necessities," said food drive organizer Judy Gibson, a real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers. "A special holiday meal is just out of reach for them at this point."

Gibson and a host of fellow volunteers are spending this week assembling food boxes for low-income seniors, single-parent households, unemployed workers and disabled people.

Altogether, they hope to distribute about 45,000 pounds of food to around 4,400 people, including 1,400 families.

The biggest need now is cash, Gibson said. It will take an estimated $25,000 or so to buy all the turkey, fresh veggies and other items needed to fill out all the food boxes.

"Donations are coming in, but we still haven't met that goal yet," she said.

Food boxes will be distributed Sunday and Monday, but cash will still be welcome afterwards to pay any lingering bills, Gibson said.

In addition to holiday fare such as turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie fixings, the boxes contain everyday staples such as peanut butter, tuna fish and baby food. Ideally, the food will last a family one week.

The need has never been greater, Gibson said, noting that Benton County food pantries distributed a record 1,067 emergency food boxes in October.

"Some of the local food pantries are seeing 60 to 80 new families a month," she said. "These are people who have never had to ask for a food box before."

Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.