Plans already in works for community dinner

Marjorie Schwalm is already making plans for an event that has become a Thanksgiving tradition for many community members.

Serving for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which is free of charge to the public, begins at 11 a.m. and concludes at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 24, at the Elks Lodge, 111 W. 19th. This is the 13th year Schwalm has hosted the event, which provides Thanksgiving meals to hundreds of local residents.

"I'm getting my supplies rounded up and my volunteers," she said. "I've been taking orders for deliveries for the last four or five days."

Schwalm and her family, along with several friends and dozens of volunteers, spend hours each year working to organize the event. Much of the money used to put the dinner together comes from free-will donations.

Including deliveries and people who dined in, nearly 700 people were served during last year's dinner, Schwalm said, and she expects that number to be about the same this year. The 2009 event provided about 600 meals.

Schwalm receives help each year from family members, longtime friends and several volunteers of various ages, from youngsters who come with their parents to people in their 80s who have been assisting her for years.

Many volunteers work in the kitchen preparing and serving meals and packaging them for delivery while others deliver meals to residents.

Schwalm said she began about a week ago getting flyers for the event printed, purchasing supplies and contacting individuals and organizations that provide food for the event or assist in other ways.

"I have individuals that help me with cooking, clean-up and delivery," she said. "We fix it all Thanksgiving morning."

The turkeys, provided by the Elks Lodge, are smoked and deboned the Monday before Thanksgiving at the lodge. Schwalm and other cooks begin preparing all of the food early Thanksgiving morning and other volunteers come in later that morning to start working on carry-out and delivery orders which are done before the dine-in meals are served.

"We get the deliveries out first," Schwalm said. "Last year, there were close to 350 delivered meals. Then we start serving to the public."

The event began when Schwalm discovered several years ago that area churches and local organizations no longer wished to sponsor the annual Thanksgiving dinner, which at the time was created for those in town who could not afford to cook a Thanksgiving dinner of their own.

Schwalm, who had experience cooking large dinners, committed to organizing the event, which has since been open to anyone in the community and has become a social event for many people.

"It's not a hardship dinner," she said. "We have doctors and attorneys who come out and eat with us on Thanksgiving. It's a tradition and community event now."

The event helps some older couples who attend the dinner because it is too difficult to make a Thanksgiving dinner for two people, those who don't want to cook or can't afford the dinner, and people who simply don't want to be by themselves on the holiday. It also helps some elderly and disabled people, those who don't have transportation and people who want to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner but don't like attending social events.

A majority of the food for the event is provided by local organizations. Community Christian Church provides most of the desserts, Parkway Church of God offers dinner rolls and Mercy Health Center provides supplies to make stuffing and mashed potatoes.

The feast includes turkey and noodles, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stuffing, dinner rolls, desserts and drinks, and there's always plenty of food, Schwalm said.

"I don't think anyone has ever (gone) away hungry," she said. "We plan the event on last year's numbers ... We never have had a lot of food left over."

Schwalm said she doesn't mind that for the past several years she has given up having Thanksgiving with her own family to host the community dinner.

"It's a good feeling to see it's appreciated," she said.

For more information about volunteering at the dinner, or to request meal delivery, contact Schwalm at (620) 223-1521.