Kathy Weiland, left, and Brandi Vranka plate meals during the Butler Community Thanksgiving Dinner at First United Methodist Church in Butler on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Seeing an increased need this year, the Butler Turkey Day Feast is working to give out thousands of free meals this Thanksgiving.

The Butler Turkey Day Feast is a free community meal offered on Thanksgiving Day. This year, on Thanksgiving Day it will be based out of Butler Global Church at 200 E. North St. in Butler.

It is offering a sit-down dinner from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and deliveries within specified local areas. It’s also offering take-and-bake boxes for larger families that can be picked up Wednesday.

“This annual event ensures that no one in our community goes without a warm meal and companionship on Thanksgiving,” said Gretchen Heavner, a member of the Butler Turkey Day Feast committee.

Volunteer Adam Christy helps cook in the kitchen during the Butler Community Thanksgiving Dinner at First United Methodist Church in Butler on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Loren Gold, an organizer with the Butler Turkey Day Feast, said the group expects to give out over 2,300 prepared meals this year.

Gold also said between cooking, meal preparation and delivery, hundreds of people will volunteer to make sure their neighbors have a decent Thanksgiving meal.

“It really does take a village to do this,” Gold said.

The Butler Turkey Day Feast is partnering with Butler Global Church, All Saints Parish Churches, Community Partnership and others to make the event happen. It has been collecting nonperishable items, such as green beans, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and stuffing, to make a full meal. Turkeys will be cooked at St. Michael’s and then taken to Butler Global Church the day of the meal, where side dishes will be prepped.

There had been concerns recently over increased need for operations like the Butler Turkey Day Feast due to residents losing SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown and new work requirements.

Ron Fundark packs up Thanksgiving to go meals during the Butler Community Thanksgiving Dinner at First United Methodist Church in Butler on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Still, Gold said there’s been an increase in requests this year.

“We definitely got an increased amount of delivery requests. We kind of expected that with the benefits issues that were going on,” Gold said. “Before last week, we were only at 500 deliveries and over the course of three days, it increased drastically. We’ve never cooked this many turkeys before.”

Last week, there had been technical difficulties, leading to people not receiving confirmation texts after submitting meal requests. Gold said that issue should be resolved, but the organizers will have some extra turkeys this year in case anybody wasn’t able to get an order in correctly.

Anyone in need of a meal can call 724-427-4153.

Volunteers can sign up at: Butler Turkey Day Feast: Volunteers.