Freeport Community Services’ annual Community Thanksgiving Meal turns 20 this year. This tradition of a free, community meal is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, in the Bradley Room at Freeport Community Services, 53 Depot St., Freeport.
The community supports the meal by donating food and volunteering to cook, prepare and deliver meals for upwards of 300 people. Local businesses also join in the effort — farms offer produce and restaurants send prepared menu items.
“(The meal) was designed for people who were in the area and might otherwise be alone, so that no one has to be alone on Thanksgiving,” Jonas Werner, who started the tradition in his former restaurant and still heads up the effort today, said in a prepared release. “My grandmother used to say to me that Thanksgiving is the most special holiday because it doesn’t matter what your background is or your religion or your politics. People should come together.”
The meal is part of a larger effort to distribute food to people in need in the area on this occasion: Each year, the Boy Scouts drop off bags around local neighborhoods and will return this Saturday, Nov. 18, to pick them up, filled with donated food from neighbors. Last year, they brought in over 3,000 pounds of food, and their goal this year is 3,500 pounds. The Spar Cove Neighborhood holds an annual food drive that this year delivered 655 pounds of food. St. Jude’s Church delivered 477 pounds; Atlantic Federal Credit Union delivered 152 pounds, along with several other smaller drives. Belanger Farms in Lewiston will donate about 1,000 pounds of potatoes, 200 pounds each of onions and carrots, and around 800 pounds of winter squash. Maine Beer Company donated $2,000 to support the effort, in addition to individual financial donations. Some of the donated food is distributed through food boxes, while the rest supports the meal.
For the meal itself, Gritty’s will be roasting the turkeys and other businesses will contribute dishes, including First Baptist Church of Freeport, First Paris Congregational Church, Freeport Grange, Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen, Royal River Grill House and Tuscan Bistro.
Seating will be continuous. Volunteers will deliver hot meals to those who cannot come from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Contact Freeport Community Services at 865-3985 for more information.
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