Thanksgiving @ St. Thomas: Many ways to help!

For the sixth year, St. Thomas is partnering with Hopelink (http://www.hope-link.org/) to prepare and deliver dinner for hundreds of hungry people in our community. We don’t just deliver meals, though – we provide a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner, using the same food you would eat at home. We cap the project with a celebratory Thanksgiving dinner, for the parish and the community, in the Great Hall.

Each of us has many opportunities to pitch in and help. You can sign up any Sunday between now and Thanksgiving  to volunteer in many meaningful ways. These include:

Roast a turkey at home. Pick up a turkey that we will supply, roast it at home, and deliver it hot to the Church Thanksgiving morning. Turkeys will be distributed the Sunday before Thanksgiving, or Tuesday of Thanksgiving week if necessary.

Bake a pie. Pumpkin, pecan and apple pies are a signature part of Thanksgiving. Sign up to bake or buy a 9-inch or larger pie. Pies should be delivered in a non-returnable pie pan to St. Thomas on the day before Thanksgiving.

Cook and portion side dishes. The day before Thanksgiving, the kitchen and Great Hall are abuzz with activity making mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans and yams. Sign up to help cook or portion these side dishes in containers ready for deliver the next day.

Box up dinners for delivery. On Thanksgiving morning we put the complete dinners in boxes and bags ready for pickup by our delivery volunteers.

Deliver Thanksgiving dinner to families. Our most crucial – and most rewarding – task is delivering three to five dinners to hungry families on the Eastside. Pre-set routes make it easy and convenient, and you get to see first-hand the impact your work has in our community.

Share Thanksgiving dinner with parishioners and community. We open the doors of St. Thomas to anyone to join us in a celebratory Thanksgiving dinner after all meals have been delivered. Plan to join us for a great deal of fun and fellowship!

Clean up and send leftovers to Seattle to feed the homeless. Each year, we have had enough leftovers to help provide additional meals to homeless people in Seattle. This final, critical activity gives you one last opportunity to help make Thanksgiving better for folks in our community.

No matter what your Thanksgiving plans may be this year, you will find an opportunity that fits your schedule.  Sign up soon to join us in this fun and meaningful effort!

- Tammy Waddell and Bill McSherry