The annual People Helping People Thanksgiving Dinner will be held again this year at the Holy Rosary Parish Center/St Agnes School Gymnasium at 11th and Cheyenne Ave (west side of school) here in Alliance. The dinner will run from 11:30 to 1:30 and deliveries will start before that. Delivery time will depend on how many deliveries are requested.
Over the past 28 years that we have been involved with the Thanksgiving meal there have been very few changes, but this year we feel we need to make one. Last year was by far the largest number of deliveries we have ever had, 458! When we first started helping with this dinner the deliveries were available only for shut in’s and the elderly. So over the years we never felt like we needed to put limits on who receives a delivered meal because we had help to get the job done. However, after last year, we need to make mention that with 458 meals to deliver it caused us to start the deliveries earlier than normal and it took us until after noon to get them all done. With that being said, it pushed back when we started feeding the people who came to the Parish Center to eat. We received some unpleasant comments back about the time people received their delivered meals. The comments were not close to lunch time. We had others say they did not get enough to eat.
We don’t want to make rules as to who can and cannot receive a delivered meal. We ask that if you are able to come to the school and eat to please do so. You will get a hot meal and all you can eat. Please let the deliveries be for those who are elderly, sick or just unable to get out.
As always, we will be in need of pies! If you can bake an extra pie, we would appreciate you thinking of us. We have always had such a wonderful turn out and a wide variety it helps make our dinner even more special.
Volunteers are always welcome. We never know who is going to show up to help so we do our best to give you a job. We will start de-boning the turkeys on Wednesday morning and getting the rest of the meal put together. Then Thanksgiving morning we need help to put it in the oven and cook and warm up the remaining meal. We need help serving, with the deliveries and to help with clean up afterwards. You can call 762-4539 and leave a message if you are interested in volunteering.
To set up a delivery please call 762-4539 and leave a message with your name, address, phone number and the number of meals needed, we will get you on the list. PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE PARISH CENTER, THEY CAN NOT TAKE YOUR MESSAGE. We have received complaints about having to leave a message, but we work all day and this is the only way we have to get the information. If you want us to call you back and confirm please leave that on your message.
We would love to see more people come to the Parish Center to eat and to enjoy the company and fellowship of others. If you are able to, we will once again collect non-perishable food items for the Alliance Area Food Pantry so they can stock their shelves for the upcoming holiday season.
If you have any questions, please contact David or Teresa Boyles at 308-762-4539 in the evenings or leave us a message and we will call you back. If you would like to make a donation to help offset the cost you may mail it to 608 Platte Ave, Alliance 69301.
We want to thank the Community for its support over the years as well as all of the donations we receive to purchase the food and the volunteers for making this all possible and successful every year.
Thank you,
David and Teresa Boyles