Community Thanksgiving Dinner serves 375

Organizers of the annual Com­munity Thanksgiving Dinner were pleased with the turnout for this year’s event, where the total num­ber of dinners served well exceeded the average for the dinner, it was reported.

“It’s amazing how things come together,” said dinner organizer Freda Galer, who noted that a total of 375 dinners were served during the annual dinner event at the Evangel United Methodist Church Family Life Center. Of that total, Galer said 80 were carry-out din­ners.

Now, Galer and others are turn­ing their attention to the upcoming Community Christmas Dinner, set for Sunday, Dec. 25 at the Family Life Center, and Galer said a siz­able amount of food donated for the Thanksgiving dinner will be used for the Christmas dinner.

“People brought in enough corn that we have all the corn we need for Christmas,” she said. “We’re also doing pretty good on rolls, be­cause somebody brought in more than 200 home-baked rolls, and we’d already ordered ours.”

In addition to the food donations for Thursday’s dinner, Galer also expressed gratitude for the 37 peo­ple who volunteered their time and efforts for the dinner, including members of the AmeriCorps team currently staying in Holton.

“Everybody was ready to serve,” Galer said. “We had a lot of new people, and a lot of them said they wanted to come back.”

The total number of dinners served was more than the average of 300 dinners served during Thursday’s event, Galer said, and it was more than the number of din­ners served in previous years. Last year, it was reported that a total of 291 dinners were served; the 2014 total was 250 dinners.

Looking ahead to the Commu­nity Christmas Dinner, Galer said 12 people are needed to cook and debone turkeys, and four 10-pound hams also are being sought. In ad­dition, organizers are seeking do­nations of two gallons of green beans, six gallons of sweet pota­toes, seven gallons of baked beans, five cans of instant potatoes and 11 boxes of stuffing.

She also noted that 21 fruit and vegetable salads were needed for the Christmas dinner, as were 13 Jell-O salads, 34 pies, 12 cakes and nine dozen rolls.

“We’ve got a good start al­ready,” Galer said. I’ve got four turkeys already, and I’ve already got eight workers that I know are coming in. It’s a good start.”

More volunteer help is needed for the Christmas dinner, including kitchen workers, servers and people to set up the Family Life Center, both on Christmas Eve and the morning before the dinner.

Galer also encouraged those who want a Christmas dinner delivered to them to call her at 364-4160 by 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 24. Galer may be reached at that same num­ber for those who wish to make a food donation or pledge volunteer services for the Christmas dinner.

Monetary dona­tions also are be­ing ac­cepted for the Christmas din­ner; contact Fran­cis DeVader at 364-2507 for more information.