KINGSTON – Hundreds of holiday turkeys are being cooked by volunteers across the Mid-Hudson Valley this week, as community organizations get ready for the annual Thanksgiving holiday feast.
Despite rising cases of food insecurity and Federal SNAP benefit applications, there is no shortage of donations to provide hot meals on this day of thanks, marked by togetherness and friendship.
All seeking a hot plate of food will not be turned away, volunteers assured.
Volunteers at Clinton Avenue Church in Kingston prepare a
feast for dozens
In Middleltown, RECAP Board member Ann Pittman and
COO Michele McKeon
with boxes containing turkey and the
fixings
Michael Berg, the executive director of Family of Woodstock, said 500
guests are expected at the 40th annual dinner at the Woodstock Community
Center on Rock City Road.
“It isn’t just an event for people who don’t have, it’s also for people who have nobody to spend the time with,” Berg observed. “A lot of people come together, it’s really a sweet event.”.
Tuesday night saw the 30th dinner for Family’s Adolescent Services program, which drew hundreds out to the Fair Street Reformed Church in Kingston. Berg added that the Darmstadt Shelter will also be celebrating its 30th anniversary on December 8.
A total of seven turkeys made up the Adolescent Services Dinner, explained team leader Kelly Warringer. “We just all get together and have a good time,” she said. “We use Facebook a lot.”
Meanwhile, Caring Hands Soup Kitchen was busy preparing its own feast, preparing 70 whole turkeys, to feed an expected 250 sit-downs and 650 take-outs. The plates will be topped off with 500 pounds of potatoes and 600 pounds of stuffing, said Karin, one of the cooks.
Fifteen of those turkeys come cooked from the Bruderhof in Rifton, who also donated four ovens and a freezer unit to the Soup Kitchen earlier this year.
None of the groups said they’ve seen any Syrian refugees yet. “Just the locals, everyday people who come for lunch,” Karin said.
