Thanksgiving is a time in the United States when families gather to give thanks and enjoy a delicious meal. It is also a time when many people give back to those less fortunate.

The Abercrombie & Kent USA team turned to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago (BGCC), AKP’s partner on the Journey to the West program, to provide Thanksgiving meals to local families.

Thanks to the generosity of A&K’s staff, 45 Chicago families received laundry baskets filled with the fixings for a holiday meal—including stuffing mix, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and more—plus a grocery store gift card to buy perishable items such as milk, butter and eggs.
With rising food costs, many families struggle to put dinner on the table. More than 33 million Americans—including 9 million children—face hunger or food insecurity, meaning they lack access to an affordable, nutritious diet.

Ahead of Thanksgiving, 25 A&K employees brought the items to a Boys & Girls Club, where they learned more about AKP’s partnership with BGCC, shared lunch, and received a comprehensive tour of BGCC’s first new club in a generation.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the AKP team for giving us the chance to witness the charitable efforts of A&K, particularly in our local community,” said Kelly Bielec, Small Group Journeys Sales Associate. “Being in my first year at A&K, this truly highlights what an exceptional company it is to be a part of, and I am eagerly anticipating what lies ahead in my journey here.”

“I left the event feeling very empowered,” Jeannette O’Brien, Documentation Coordinator, added. “It was great to see what BGCC does to positively affect the community and their beautiful facility. Getting to be hands-on and experiencing everything firsthand made me feel the impact AKP’s partnership with BGCC at a deeper level compared to just reading about it in an email or hearing about it at a meeting.”

The club’s staff was excited by A&K employees’ enthusiasm and expressed their heartfelt gratitude for helping their students’ families this holiday season.