Meal Makers
Thanksgiving holds different meanings for different people.
Honoring history. Celebrating with family. Football.
But for many families, organizations and individuals in Butler County, giving thanks means giving time to help others.
For those people, donating time or money can provide a meal for those in need on Thanksgiving Day, or contribute to the education of a young mind.
St. Peter Parish on Franklin Street has hosted a Thanksgiving Day meal for the past 20 years.Lori Parkinson of Butler has volunteered for the past five and now is one of the coordinators.“It became tradition. The first year we did it, we had no anticipation it would become what our family does each Thanksgiving,” she said.Parkinson's husband, Maj. Nevins Parkinson, is deployed in Iraq with the 77th Sustainment Brigade out of Fort Dix, N.J.He is scheduled to return home on Tuesday. The following day he will join Lori and daughters Kara, 18, Emily, 16 and Amanda, 6, in starting the whirlwind process of producing hundreds of Thanksgiving meals.“The first year we went, we just volunteered to serve food to the diners who came to the church hall,” Parkinson said.“The second year, they needed an organizer for deliveries: Meals on Wheels does not work Thanksgiving. We weren't quite clear when we took it on that we were talking about more than 700 dinners.”In addition to more than 300 eat-in diners, the St. Peter program delivers to more than 700 people as far away as Chicora.
About 100 volunteers work to make the meal happen, Parkinson said, roasting more than 100 turkeys to serve with stuffing, potatoes, green beans homemade gravy, cranberry sauce, bread and a piece of pie.“We have small children who come with their parents on Wednesday night, some of whom color place mats. We have teens who do the hard work, moving furniture and other things around, as well as people who are in town on business or whose spouses are working on Thanksgiving,” she said.“It's an amazing amount of work in a short period of time.”Not counted in those 100 volunteers are the countless individuals who donate food or money.The program's 30 drivers are its heart and soul, Parkinson said. None backed out when gas prices skyrocketed and no one has shirked their duties in the tough economy.“We get people who call in advance, but we also get people who show up Thanksgiving Day to volunteer,” Parkinson said.“We roast turkeys all day on Wednesday and debone them Wednesday.”The Parkinson family's tradition left Amanda Parkinson's kindergarten teacher confused last year when Thanksgiving was discussed in class.“They asked who cooked the turkey on Thanksgiving, and she told the teacher she doesn't know his name. The teacher was thoroughly confused,” Parkinson said.However, she added that the family will hold its own Thanksgiving feast on Friday, while others are battling it out at Black Friday sales.The meal is advertised in bulletins at churches where the Butler Salvation Army provides hot meals.“The need people exhibit varies. Some people need companionship, others are there due to lack of funds. It's not as if there's a test when people call in. If they need dinner, we do it — no muss, no fuss, no fee,” Parkinson said.Meals are served at St. Peter Parish Hall from noon to 1 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, while deliveries are made between 11 a.m. and noon.Those interested in volunteering, attending the meal or requesting delivery from St. Peter should call 724-287-2743.
The Feed My Sheep Food Pantry in Slippery Rock aids about 250 regular clients in need and will gather and distribute Thanksgiving meal ingredients to almost all of them this week.“I'm going to prepare 220 bags and pray that that's enough,” said pantry coordinator Carol Lambert.“Clients come to the cupboard once per month for food. At Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, though, we have an extra give out and they get an extra bag of food that would pretty much provide their Thanksgiving dinner.”Included in the literal bag of goodies are oil and sugar, four cans of vegetables, two cans of fruit, pumpkin, evaporated milk and a bread mix.“We also give eggs and pie crust, a bag of potatoes, a bag of apples and a turkey,” Lambert said.Clients also are offered sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and coffee or tea.“We buy a lot of what we can get from Pittsburgh Food Bank. People are very generous in this community with donations, particularly at Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Lambert said.“We have lots of volunteers, probably 40 total on our rolls.”For Thanksgiving, she said, about eight local volunteers, as well as four Slippery Rock University students, will be on hand to distribute food.“They wanted to send us 28 volunteers,” Lambert said of one SRU sorority.“This community is absolutely amazing. I almost have people waiting in line to volunteer,” she said. In addition, Giant Eagle donates 35 of the 220 turkeys.Lambert also expressed her gratitude for her strong men: a group primarily composed of retirees who provide the organization's labor force.“We have an amazing group of men who come twice a month to unload trucks,” she said.The half-dozen men do more than haul the 220 5-pound bags of sugar and one hundred 5-pound bags of flour to the distribution site.“When we start to give out, these guys stand outside, no matter what the weather, to help people cart potatoes, apples and turkeys to people's cars,” Lambert said.To volunteer or donate to the Feed My Sheep Food Pantry, call 724-735-2675.
At St. Wendelin Roman Catholic Church in Oakland Township, turkey dinner needn't wait for Thanksgiving Day.Volunteers organized eat-in and group takeout orders from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. last Sunday, with all proceeds benefiting St. Wendelin School's tuition assistance program.“Our work for the dinner starts on Tuesday (Nov. 8). We cut more than 200 loaves of bread and start making the homemade stuffing. Wednesday, we clean and prep the turkeys,” said event chairwoman Mimi Augustine.By that Thursday night, the 110 turkeys were in the oven and volunteers spent Friday deboning those birds.“It takes an army of people to make this dinner happen,” Augustine said.“We have some very, very dedicated people.”She estimated about 50 people volunteer to do preparatory work, while another 75 volunteers worked the day of the meal.“This year, we served 1,531 meals,” Augustine said.While 827 adults and 78 children gathered around St. Wendelin's tables, eating turkey, stuffing, coleslaw, beets and cranberry sauce, another 626 people ordered their meals for carry-out.“We live in Steeler nation, so we prepared for that,” Augustine said of the 1 p.m. football game last Sunday.The fundraiser has been going strong for more than 20 years, and Augustine said both parishioners and school parents get involved.“We are just one big family. You support everything. I do it because I am a part of that community,” she said.“With what our economy is going through, it's nice that everybody steps up to help.”
St. Barnabas Charities will continue a tradition it has held since 1900: providing Thanksgiving dinner to community members alone or in need.The dinners, complete with all the traditional trimmings, are offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at two St. Barnabas Health System nursing homes.Residents and guests will break bread in the dining room of St. Barnabas Nursing Home in Gibsonia and in the dining room at Valencia Woods at St. Barnabas in Valencia.“It's also open to anybody in the community who may not have anybody or cannot afford a meal,” said Whitney Reed, director of recreation at St. Barnabas.No questions are asked of those enjoying the dinners and confidentiality is honored.Reservations can be made by calling St. Barnabas Nursing Home in Gibsonia at 724-443-0700 or Valencia Woods at 724-625-4000.
