Volunteers to serve Thanksgiving meal again
Jeannie Volpe of Community Life Church is planning another Share-A-Meal Thanksgiving dinner. She invites those wanting a meal delivered and those who want to help with the Thanksgiving meal to contact her at 863-5433.
Many churches are participating to prepare the Thanksgiving meal. District Judge Pat Whaley is planning to smoke the turkeys ahead of time. Volpe has spoken with Gene Crouch, general manager with Wadley Holdings LLC, and the company has decided to come in with the Share-A-Meal group this year. The lunches they have prepared in Wadley have been poorly attended, leading to the decision to join in with this group.
There is plenty for volunteers to do, Volpe said, and people wanting to help––from cooking to delivering to cleaning up––are welcome.
She has participated in the meal before but this is the second year she has overseen the event.
“The thing that really impressed me last year was the way that the people of Randolph County came together to help each other. There were over 50 volunteers who helped last year, and I was amazed to see so many people with such a positive attitudes doing something for their neighbors. That is what is so nice about living in a small town,” she said.
People have the option of eating at the McDonald Family Life Center at First United Methodist Church or having a meal delivered.
It is not necessarily about needing a meal. Some people may want to share a meal and not be alone on the holiday while others are not physically able to shop and cook for themselves or their families, she said.
No donations are accepted that day but anyone wanting to contribute to this project can mail a check to Share-A-Meal, P.O. Box 381, Roanoke, AL 36274.
Joe Halker coordinated delivery last year and was a huge help, she said. Deliveries are made to every part of the county.
The menu will be turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, corn, green beans, rolls and pound cake. Delilah Lilly of Roanoke Health Care Center is preparing the dressing, Pat Whaley is smoking turkeys, Linda Hurst of FUMC Roanoke is coordinating the pound cakes, Cindy Hall of Rock Mills First Baptist is bringing the rolls, and countless others are stepping in to help, she said.
More pound cakes are needed, Volpe said. Unlike iced cakes they can more easily be sliced and put in plastic bags. The cakes can be dropped off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving at FUMC Family Life Center. The door will be open through the day. Do not cut the cakes. A volunteer crew will slice them Thursday morning to make sure they are sliced to the right size.
Thanksgiving morning volunteers will cook from 8 until 10 a.m. at the church. From 10 to 10:30 a.m. they will box up the meals to be delivered from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Those eating at the church will receive their meals beginning at noon. Clean-up is from 1 to 3 p.m.
