It’s not only the turkey that’s going to cost you more. Grocery prices are still up from last year.

That’s why nonprofits and food banks In Connecticut are stepping in to help people struggling this Thanksgiving.

For Pastor Brenda Adkins, her annual Day of Joy brings Thanksgiving to thousands of New Haven area families unable to celebrate themselves.

“You’re not thinking about a light bill or a gas bill. You’re being served a nice hot meal,” Adkins said.

Her church, His Divine Will Fellowship, has been doing the event for 15 years providing hot holiday meals, but year 16 has been challenging with ingredients costing more now.

“Last year, a box of mashed potatoes was $2.49. This year is $3.49,” she said.

Adkins said the church is spending $1,700 more this year on the same ingredients, much of it driven by the price of meat.

“Even the price of chicken, you know, what we paid last year, it’s double, triple than what we paid last year,” she said.

This comes as food prices have gone up since last year, especially here in the Hartford-New Haven area. That’s according to data from the marketing research firm NIQ.

Eggs, for instance, are up about 7% in our area, and a loaf of bread is up about 2.5% from last year. Other items are going up like ground beef, which is now 10% more ,and chicken breast which is up about 3%.

At the Seymour Oxford Food Bank, Executive Director Kristina Walton said she’s seen double the families come through compared to last year. The delays with food stamps and the coming holiday season bringing much of the traffic with items not on shelves for long.

“It goes, it moves very quickly. It comes in, it goes out,” Walton said.

While she credits partnerships with local grocery stores and the generosity of the community, Walton worries about the future.

“Once we get through the holiday season, donations drop off in both physical donations and monetary donations. And that could be concerning when the need is still so big,” she said.

But for Adkins, she’s committed to having the day of joy despite the challenges.

“It’s an event that you have to come and experience it for yourself,” she said.

Connected to mainland Darien by a vehicle causeway, Hay Island is just south of Great Island which was purchased in separate transactions in 2023 by the town of Darien and a private buyer. Both properties were owned by William Ziegler Sr., who generated his fortune through Royal Baking Powder Co., with the brand still sold today by Mondelez International.

Hay Island was Connecticut’s third largest residential sale on record this year as reported by Zillow, and the biggest outside of Greenwich. The property’s listing agent was Leslie McElwreath of Sotheby’s International Realty.

The $43.5 million transfer of 214 Clapboard Ridge Road in Greenwich remains the state’s high sale with less than six weeks to go in the calendar year. Including commercial properties, the $25.8 million sale of the Thorndal Circle office complex is Darien’s biggest real estate sale this year, with the property slated to be converted to apartments.

The Hay Island property at 157 and 161 Long Neck Point Road was originally listed for $35 million last March, with the price cut to $29.5 million after two months on the market. The town appraised the property at $25 million as of October 2024.

The main house at 161 Long Neck Point Road was built in 2010, with six bedrooms and nearly 8,700 square feet of space according to a town property card. A Cape Cod-style cottage at 157 Great Neck Road dates back to 1920 with two bedrooms and 2,300 square feet. A small pool house is also on the property.

Darien’s record residential sale is the Ziegler’s Farm section of Great Island, which sold in December 2023 for $57.5 million. The town’s $85 million purchase of a 60-acre portion of Great Island, now a public park, put the total parcel’s value at $142.5 million.

Includes prior reporting by Mollie Hersh, Andy Blye and Nathaniel Rosenberg.