Teaming up for Thanksgiving
Volunteers make Thanksgiving dinner a memorable experience for less fortunate
Preparing for a large Thanksgiving feast can be difficult, but when the community rallies together, the task no longer seems as daunting. On Monday morning, volunteers were hard at work slicing, peeling and cooking all the fixings needed to serve appropriately 125 people in need with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Nearly 30 volunteers, mostly from Via and Miz Churches, sacrificed their holiday to help prepare and serve a Thanksgiving feast at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen.
L.A. Chefs donated 26 precooked and cut turkeys and volunteers helped with additional preparation and serving on Monday.
Allyn Mills has spent the last 25 years volunteering on Thanksgiving. As a pastor, he said he feels it’s his calling to serve.
“Most of us plan our Thanksgiving dinners on the Sunday with our families to be available to come here on Monday, the actual Thanksgiving day,” he said.
But his Sunday and Monday weren’t so different. Both involved a sense of community coming together and working together.
“Most of the people that come to the soup kitchen are just looking for a family or friend,” said Mills.
The Lethbridge Soup Kitchen serves meals Monday to Saturday throughout the year.
On average, around 80-125 meals a day are served and nearly two weeks ago, they served a record number of 127 people, according to Bill Ginther, executive director for the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen Association.
“We know one of the important parts of Thanksgiving is getting together with people — family,” said Ginthe. “A lot of these individuals don’t have family, so this becomes family.”
“It’s really important for us to allow people that opportunity to experience the kind of meal the rest of us do,” he added. “I’m very thankful that there’s lots of volunteers that are willing to take time out of their Thanksgiving Day with their families to come.”