Thanksgiving approaches.

The family cooks are pulling together menus and shopping lists. Mom and Dad are plotting the car trip to Gram and Gramps' house or vice-versa. How big a turkey do we need this year? Are any vegetarians coming? Who's going to peel all the potatoes? Can we stop Aunt Mary from making that awful stuffing with prunes in it again?

But while many are eagerly planning for this most American of holidays, there are a significant number of people in Maine for whom Thanksgiving is just another day of hunger and disappointment.

The federal government this week issued its annual report on what's called "food insecurity" and "food insecurity with hunger," which are bureaucratic terms for those who don't have enough food to feed themselves and their families. The bad news is that Maine continues to suffer growing, and high, rates of hunger. According to the feds, between 2005-2007, 72,000 Maine households didn't have enough food.

The even worse news is that the federal statistics were compiled before the current economic downturn. So while the prevalence of hunger in Maine went from 9.8 percent of households between 2002-2004 to 13.3 percent between 2005-2007 (a 35.7 percent increase), that prevalence is surely even higher this year.

Which is why we are that much more grateful this year for the efforts of good souls like Mike Marston and Bud King.

For the past 18 years, the two men have organized a free Thanksgiving meal for central Maine's hungry. Their first year, they served between 50 and 60 people; next week, they anticipate at least a repeat of the past few years, which have averaged 900 diners.

And the folks who show up at Messalonskee High School on Thanksgiving are, indeed, diners. No lines for them; the midday meal is served restaurant-style. If someone needs an extra meal to take home or a package of leftovers, they're welcome to that as well. There will be turkey, potatoes, stuffing, peas, pies and other wonderful Thanksgiving foods. And if a lack of transportation stands between a person and the meal, Martson and King's volunteers will either deliver a meal or bring a person to the dinner.

Such events can be found all over the region on Thanksgiving, from the meal put on at Gardiner High School by the Augusta Valley Scottish Rite Masons, to the one in Winthrop at St. Francis Church, to meals in Skowhegan, Madison, Augusta, Farmington, Waterville and Pittsfield. In Norridgewock, an anonymous customer of the What's for Supper restaurant said he'd pay for 160 Thanksgiving dinners if the restaurant's owner would cook for, and host, the event. Owner Laura Lorette -- and 30 family members -- will be doing just that.

We'd like to say that the growing and persistent problem of hunger in Maine will be helped by these efforts. It won't -- hunger is a huge and complex problem that won't be solved in a day. And as many of our readers know from the series on hunger we published in 2007, we believe strongly that acts of charity can sadly be a diversion from the hard and long-term work that needs to be done to conquer hunger.

But there are times to set aside analysis and simply allow the goodness of the moment to prevail. Thanksgiving is one of those times.

So as we give thanks at our own tables for the bounty that graces them, we give thanks as well for the kindness of our neighbors. As they provide a fine Thanksgiving dinner for those who cannot afford it themselves, their blessed generosity provides the sustenance and dignity that is so often missing in the lives of the hungry.