Lucille Eggenberger, of Lawrence, a volunteer at Just Food packs one of many Thanksgiving boxes that the agency is making available to the community.

Elizabeth O’Brien remembers a Christmas without anything.

She and her five children were homeless at the time, falling to sleep on Christmas Eve in a hospital lobby. In the morning, there was no holiday feast.

Her son, O’Brien recalled, had cut a branch off a pine tree and stuck it in a bucket of sand, a makeshift Christmas tree to lift the family’s spirit.

O’Brien, 69, now works at Just Food, 1000 E. 11th St., where staff and volunteers are aiming to provide Thanksgiving dinners to those in need so they can have a more comfortable holiday than she had that year.

Just Food is working to give holiday dinners — including everything from turkey and cranberry sauce to brownie and cake mixes — to 1,200 local families, a record number and up 500 families from last year, Just Food chief resource officer Elizabeth Keever said.

The holiday dinner project is a combined effort among nonprofits Catholic Charities, Centro Hispano, Penn House, the Ballard Center, Toys for Tots and Just Food, which are part of Lawrence’s Holiday Bureau, a coalition that provides holiday items for those in need.

In the past, the other Holiday Bureau organizations would distribute $50 grocery store gift cards for families to purchase their own dinner fixings. This year, all efforts are put toward Just Food’s program, which can provide a holiday dinner for an average family for about $14.

“Because we get such low prices and fantastic deals at Just Food, we’re able to save our community thousands of dollars,” Keever said. “This is an unprecedented program.”

With dinner pickup beginning Monday, Just Food still needs to raise about $11,000 to feed 903 more families.

Just Food’s goal is to feed 1200 families, but additional families have signed up on the waiting list.

Keever said that in the past Just Food has been able to feed everyone on the waiting list, in part because of the honesty of clients who call to cancel their meal if they find an alternative holiday meal.

“If a family member invites a client to dinner, they will call and say, ‘Give my dinner to someone on the wait list,'” Keever said. “They are very conscientious about not taking food if they don’t need it.”

Three years ago, O’Brien was herself a Just Food client when her job was eliminated and she had to adjust from making $40,000 to $12,00 a year. As a former client and current staffer, O’Brien said she knows the families seeking help over the holidays aren’t looking for handouts.

“The people we help need the help,” O’Brien said. “A lady came here the other day mortified she had to be here. They don’t want to be here, but we’ll be here when they need it.”

Keever said Thanksgiving is more than just a meal; it’s an important cultural tradition.

“You remember as a kid coming back to school from break and asking each other, ‘What’d you eat or what’d you get for the holiday?'” Keever said. “What do you say? ‘No, we couldn’t have it because Mom couldn’t afford it?'”

Last year, 700 families signed up for a holiday dinner. Keever attributed this year’s order increase to cuts to government aid programs.

“Nearly 50 percent of people in Douglas County who are food insecure are not eligible for food stamps,” Keever said. “They are falling through the cracks.”

In total, the agency expects to have fed 30 percent of Douglas County by the end of the year. To date, Just Food has fed about 28,000 families.

Individuals wanting to help pay for the holiday dinners can make donations in-person at HyVee grocery store, 3504 Clinton Parkway, online at www.justfoodfund.org or send a check to Just Food at 1000 E. 11th St., Lawrence KS 66046.