NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A North Nashville daycare is in desperate need of assistance as it prepares for its holiday giveaway.

Over the past 15 years, 18th Avenue Family Enrichment Center has been hosting a turkey giveaway, but that tradition is now in jeopardy.

“The holiday season (is) about giving back and helping others,” Co-director Roxanne McEwen-Fondren said. “I just can’t even, like, think of not doing it.”

Typically, the nonprofit provides roughly 30 Thanksgiving meals to families in need. Due to the recent historic 43-day government shutdown and the pause on SNAP benefits, more families than expected have turned to them.

Despite collecting some canned goods and a few turkeys, McEwen-Fondren worries it won’t be enough to meet the demand.

“We’ve already promised families, ‘Hey

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