BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Thanksgiving is near, and families are still facing the reality of inflation. In 2023, all food prices were predicted to increase 5.8%, according to the U.S Department of Agriculture.

The Department of Public Safety’s annual turkey drive is helping families with those disparities.

“We have approximately 250 turkeys, and that seems like a lot. You know, unfortunately, there’s still not enough,” said Col. Lamar Davis with Louisiana State Police.

Walmart and the ‘Blessed to be a Blessing’ organization, also stepped in to lend a helping hand.

Families are going home with a little more than just a turkey.

“Those bags have mac and cheese, rice, peas, yams, probably gravy, cranberry sauce. So, that’s what it is. When one leaves here, they truly have a meal,” said Blessed to be a Blessing founder, Eliza Eugne.

Eugene says participating in events like this are important to her, because of her family’s hardships when she was younger.

“My mother. That’s how she fed myself and my siblings, because the community gave back,” said Eugene.

Col. Davis says as they continue with this incentive their only goal is to increase their resources to give more.

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