POCATELLO — The Idaho Foodbank in Pocatello and Barrie’s Ski and Sports are hosting the annual Cranksgiving turkey drive on Saturday — and with just a few days before the event, officials say they are still in need of approximately 500 turkeys to meet their goal of 1,000.

“We definitely need a final push for some more turkeys,” said Jonna Boote, a development coordinator for the Idaho Foodbank in Pocatello. “Our estimates show that we are probably a little more than halfway toward our goal of 1,000.”

From now until 10 a.m. on Saturday, Gate City area residents are encouraged to bring frozen turkeys or monetary donations for turkeys to Barrie’s Ski and Sports at 624 Yellowstone Ave., to the Idaho Foodbank at 555 S. First Ave. or to any Idaho Central Credit Union location in Pocatello or Chubbuck.

Boote said Idaho Central Credit Union kicked-off the Cranksgiving turkey drive by donating $2,500 to the cause.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, the public is invited to participate in the Cranksgiving event, which will involve delivering the turkeys from Barrie’s Ski and Sports to the Idaho Foodbank via bicycle.

The Idaho Foodbank will distribute the turkeys along with a Thanksgiving Day dinner box that includes a bag of potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, two cans of green beans and corn, yams, rolls, a loaf of bread and a desert from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Bannock County fairgrounds in Pocatello.

Not only will a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving provide families in Southeast Idaho an opportunity to come together for at least one evening, but considering how large the birds are, a turkey dinner will likely provide several nutritious servings for these families, Boote said.

“One turkey may signify one meal but the coming together of a family and feeling a little less stressed during the holiday season would be really hopeful for these families,” Boote said. “One turkey signifies many nutritious servings of protein for each family.”

Boote said that in Idaho every one out of eight people are food insecure and one out of six of those people are children.

Food insecurity is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. In East Idaho, 49,400 people have food insecurities and of those 18,100 are children, Boote added.

Furthermore, the United Way states that 38 percent, or over 30,000 people, in Bannock County are working, but are unable to afford the basic necessities of housing, food, child care, health care and transportation, according to its 2015 ALICE report.

ALICE — an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — stands for households that earn more than the U.S. poverty level, but less than the basic cost of living for the state.

Statewide, 15 percent, or about 87,233 households, lived in poverty, and 22 percent, or about 130,397 households, were ALICE, according to the 2015 report.

“Food insecurity is a year-long problem — it doesn’t go away,” Boote said. “People pay more attention to it during the holiday season because there is that sense of giving, which is nice.”

Boote continued, “But when families want to be able to come together during the holiday season they are already struggling with paying bills or affording fuel to get them to work and then adding on the struggle of providing gifts for their family only compounds the issue. So being able to provide meals to these families really is a fantastic thing.”