Where to donate your Thanksgiving leftovers in Philly

Taking stock of your kitchen the morning after Thanksgiving can feel worthy of battle training.

Dishes are one thing, but figuring out how to store all the leftovers is a tougher feat. Do you pull the turkey off the bone for sandwich-making ease or leave it whole? Toss the marshmallows before storing the sweet potatoes? Keep the regular and veg stuffing separate?

And then, especially if you hosted a large gathering, there’s the issue of food you never even got a chance to touch.

The extra pies your next door neighbors brought as a thank-you gesture for being invited, still sitting whole in their boxes. The crudite platter Aunt Jessie never fails to pick up from “her” Ak-a-me. The gorgeous assortment of charcuterie you forgot you’d even ordered because the homemade stuff took precedence. The second pan of oven-ready green bean casserole — uncooked, because there just wasn’t room for it, after all.

Good news: Nothing mentioned in the paragraph above has to go to waste. Instead, it can go to hungry people who need it.

While major organizations like Philabundance and Food Connect can only accept prepared food from licensed commercial kitchens (see guidelines here), several small local pantries and charities will accept certain kinds of home-sourced leftovers. Not your picked-apart turkey carcass or half-eaten loaf of bread, but almost any untouched dish, either cooked or uncooked, plus any extra canned goods.

With some help from the generous crew at Broad Street Ministry, who aren’t accepting food but are keyed into the giving scene, we’ve compiled a list of Philly places accepting Thanksgiving leftovers.

Tip: Call in advance to assure your donation can be received.