While Thanksgiving is almost here, the Okotoks Food Bank is already looking ahead to Christmas.

To help plan for an anticipated increase this holiday season, the food bank will be giving additional Thanksgiving food items to this weeks existing hampers.

Sheila Hughes, Executive Director at the Okotoks Food Bank, says the food bank is still doing its best to provide clients with a special dinner.

"We're adding items that will help our families make a really nice Thanksgiving dinner... they'll get things like a choice between a ham or a turkey, a pie, salad ingredients, additional vegetables, and things like that."

Hughes says the food bank has experienced an increase over the past six months and is anticipating that increase to continue into the holiday season.

There's a way businesses and residents can help the food bank to prepare.

"We're really looking forward to working with groups doing food drives coming up to Christmas," Hughes says. "If people would like to let us know when they're having the food drive, any groups, schools, organizations, businesses, and if they wanted to come in and do some team building at the same time. Perhaps they could come in, bring the donations and do some sorting and see what we do here at the food bank."

Items the food bank is always looking for are: dry pasta, pancake mix, syrup, canned fruit and vegetables, peanut butter, jam, hot chocolate, condiments, rice, flour, sugar, canned soups, single servings of soup, mac and cheese, crackers and cheese, cookies, juice, fruit snacks, shampoo and conditioner, dish soap, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and personal care items.

For more information visit the Okotoks Food Bank's website, email okotoksfoodbank@gmail.com, or call (403) 651-6629.