A time to give back
East Sonora church follows COVID-19 protocols to provide Thanksgiving meals for its 26th year
Some people’s only taste of Thanksgiving each year comes courtesy of Christian Heights Church in East Sonora, which is one reason Pastor Craig Andrus said they were determined to find a way to provide the annual meal safely despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is such a need in our community, especially people who are in the high-risk groups and not able to go out,” he said. “I think the need is greater than ever for people to have a hot meal.”
Dozens of volunteers were hard at work this week preparing 500 to 600 meals in the church’s kitchen while following all of the coronavirus-related health guidelines for restaurants that provide to-go service, including everyone wearing masks, gloves and individually boxing each of the meals so the food won’t be contaminated.
Andrus said the preparation was complicated by the fact that the volunteers, most of whom are among the roughly 700 to 800 who are members of the church, had to be segregated into smaller groups while preparing the meals that include turkey and all the traditional trimmings.
“It’s a little bit more logistically difficult this year,” he said.
Many of the people who receive the meals each year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving are homebound seniors who otherwise can’t go out themselves, and the church has a plan to make sure they are delivered safely and without any physical contact this year.
Andrus said volunteer drivers, all of whom will be wearing masks and gloves, will deliver the meals Wednesday afternoon and leave them at the doorsteps of people who call ahead to reserve one. The driver will then call the person from their vehicle to let them know the meal is there.
The types of people who take advantage of the free meals aren’t just limited to seniors or people with low incomes. Andrus said they also have young families who receive them, as well as an entire apartment complex in the township of Tuolumne.
“When we deliver them, the appreciation of people is just incredibly heartwarming,” he said. “People are so appreciative, and once again, our purpose is to show in a practical way the love of God, that there is a God who cares about people.”
Andrus said most of the food for the meals is donated each year by members of the church. There are also a number of people who contribute each year from outside of the church either through donations or by volunteering.
The church also typically distributes some of the meals each
year at its Heart Rock Cafe on South Washington Street in downtown Sonora. Andrus said they will be handing out pre-packaged meals at the cafe starting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, though people will not be allowed to eat them there as usual due to the pandemic restrictions.
“We’re trying our best because even in the midst of coronavirus, the needs don’t stop,” he said.
This will mark the 26th year the church has provided the annual Thanksgiving meal for people in the community.
The year has also been difficult for members of the church, who were not allowed to worship together indoors for months early in the pandemic. They recently had to make the switch back to virtual services due to a recent spike in cases that pushed the county into the most restrictive tier of the state’s classification system for coronavirus risk.
“It is difficult, yes, but our people are wonderful, cooperative people,” Andrus said. “Whatever is going to help and bless our community, our folks are willing to do that, even though we miss meeting together tremendously.”