Thanksgiving throughout the West

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A MOTHER AND child enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at the Downtown Denver Service Center run by Majors Alfred and Stella Parker.


Salvationists throughout the West will be serving up thousands of meals to those in need this Thanksgiving season, assisted by a host of volunteers and advisory board members.

Traditional fare—turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and all the trimmings—will highlight the menus, while the compassionate ministry of those serving will extend God’s love to all who enjoy the meals.

In Denver, Colo., The Salvation Army will serve a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to hundreds of individuals and families on Thanksgiving Day at two locations. In addition, more than 200 volunteers will deliver dinner to shut-ins and seniors throughout the metro area. Food boxes will be given to 1,500 people.

The Lodi, Calif. corps serves a hot family-style Thanksgiving dinner at the corps for about 600 local families and individuals. This festive occasion in-cludes live music; corps and community volunteers cook and serve the meal, and then clean up afterwards. Up to 200 hot meals will be taken to shut-ins. Many of the volunteer drivers have children, and they demonstrate to them the value of giving to others.

A community-wide Thanks-giving feast is held each year in Roseville, serving over 350, from homeless folks to single dads with their kids—even large family groups who either forget to defrost the turkey or may have burnt their bird trying!

Special featured guest volunteers for the past two years have been the local Granite Bay High School varsity football team, who practice early on Thursday morning preparing for their playoff game, and show up afterwards to serve the needy in the community—the 40-plus young men and coaches fill the room with their white and green jerseys. A dedicated motor pool of volunteers deliver hot meals with all the ‘fixins’ to over 150 shut-ins who can’t get out due to weather, illness, handicaps, or old age.

Thousands of men, women and children—the elderly, the disabled, the lonely, the homeless and disadvantaged—will be fed a traditional Thanksgiving meal in Hawai‘i on Thanksgiving Day. In Honolulu alone, which has been holding this event for 33 years, more than 2,200 people are expected to attend. “Not only do we serve festive sit-down meals, but we also make home deliveries to hundreds of shut-ins who are disabled and elderly,” says Major Ralph Hood, divisional commander. Last year, the Army served and delivered more than 6,500 meals and distributed hundreds of turkeys to families in need.

More than 800 volunteers provide time, energy and resources to make the meal possible in Honolulu. Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris provides the Neal Blaisdell Center, one of the largest conference halls in the city. Each year, the mayor participates in the ceremonial carving of the first Thanksgiving turkey.

Thousands of men, women and children — the elderly, the disabled, the lonely, the homeless and disadvantaged — will be fed a traditional Thanksgiving meal in Hawai‘i on Thanksgiving Day. In Honolulu alone, which has been holding this event for 33 years, more than 2,200 people are expected to attend. The northernmost island of Kaua‘i surpasses Honolulu by ten years, having started this holiday tradition in the early 1960s.

The Chandler Corps, Ariz., will serve 1,200 on Thanksgiving Day in the city’s community center More than 100 volunteers, including the city council, the police department, and the fire department, will assist; music and entertainment will also be provided.

Phoenix Central Corps’ Thanksgiving meal will be held on November 23, with the help of local officers and members of the congregation—providing an opportunity for the community to know a different aspect of The Salvation Army and to know the love of God.

In Seattle, more than 450 seniors will enjoy a turkey dinner on November 24, while 500 homeless men, women and children will be served dinner on Thanksgiving Day. In Renton, more than 500 will be given food items to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner.

Southern California Salvationists will serve more than 350,000 families in crisis, homeless women and children, older adults, the transient and the unemployed. Throughout the division, corps’ will host dinners, and provide food baskets and food items, meeting needs in practical and caring ways.

Thanksgiving meal in Hawai‘i on Thanksgiving Day. In Honolulu alone, which has been holding this event for 33 years, more than 2,200 people are expected to attend. The northernmost island of Kaua‘i surpasses Honolulu by ten years, having started this holiday tradition in the early 1960s.

“Not only do we serve festive sit-down meals, but we also make home deliveries to hundreds of shut-ins who are disabled and elderly,” says Major Ralph Hood, divisional commander. Last year, the Army served and delivered more than 6,500 meals and distributed hundreds of turkeys to families in need.

More than 800 volunteers provide time, energy and resources to make the meal possible in Honolulu. Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris provides the Neal Blaisdell Center, one of the largest conference halls in the city. Each year, the mayor participates in the ceremonial carving of the first Thanksgiving turkey.

Thousands of men, women and children — the elderly, the disabled, the lonely, the homeless and disadvantaged — will be fed a traditional Thanksgiving meal in Hawai‘i on Thanksgiving Day.

The Chandler Corps, Ariz., will serve 1,200 on Thanksgiving Day in the city’s community center. More than 100 volunteers, including the city council, the police department, and the fire department, will assist; music and entertainment will also be provided.

Phoenix Central Corps’ Thanksgiving meal will be held on November 23, with the help of local officers and members of the congregation—providing an opportunity for the community to know a different aspect of The Salvation Army and to know the love of God.

In Seattle, Wash., more than 450 seniors will enjoy a turkey dinner on November 24, while 500 homeless men, women and children will be served dinner on Thanksgiving Day. In Renton, Wash., more than 500 will be given food items to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner.

Southern California Salvationists will serve more than 350,000 families in crisis, homeless women and children, older adults, the transient and the unemployed. Throughout the division, corps’ will host dinners, and provide food baskets and food items, meeting needs in practical and caring ways.

At six a.m, the day before Thanksgiving, volunteers will gather in Auburn, Calif., at the Placer county Fairgrounds to begin preparing the Army’s community Thanksgiving dinner. At six the next morning, around 400 volunteers will arrive to finish preparing the dinner. In all, 2,500 meals will be served to guests, plus 250 Meals on Wheels will be taken to shut-ins, reports Major Mick Souders.


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