It’s the same sad story as in every recent year: Demand for the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry’s Thanksgiving box donations is higher than ever.

The Dunkirk-based organization provides dinner boxes for people who cannot afford a Thanksgiving meal. “We’re doing at least 30 to 35 more boxes than we did last year,” said Bridget Majka, the Rural Ministry’s executive director. Last year, she said about 120 boxes were distributed.

This year’s boxes will be sent out Monday.

Majka said the organization will serve a meal from 11 to 12:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving and a Christmas meal from 2 to 4 p.m. It will start taking applications to receive Christmas food and toy donations in the first week of December.

The Rural Ministry’s food pantry is also getting more customers than ever. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of new faces in here, so we’re glad they came down,” Majka said.

“At the same time, it’s very hard to keep (the pantry) full… we’re seeing lots of new people and the numbers are increasing, they’re not going down.”

Majka noted that the Rural Ministry always welcomes donations of non-perishable food.