A local community group worked overtime this Thanksgiving, preparing thousands of meals for senior citizens in need.
The group Community Projects for Seniors aims to help lonely elderly folks find happiness during the holidays. Jeffrey Hansen started the project in 1986 after his grandfather, unfortunately, took his own life.
"My grandfather was suffering from depression," Hansen said. "I look at it, he had a loving family. I look at all the seniors, all the people out there that have nobody, they have nobody in their life. That's where we come in. Bring them a hot meal. Cheer them up a bit. That makes my day."
In 1986, they started with 200 meals for low-income senior citizens. Today, they have 4,508 hot meals they're putting together to help.
"It makes me feel great," Hansen said. "I see the people. I see the need. I look at them as, they don't see people for a long time and now they get a smiling volunteer coming not only to give them a hot meal but cheer them up and really make their day."
This feast is something like the Pilgrims mixed with the Henry Ford's assembly lines. For three days, they roast turkeys and slice them ready to be heated up on Thanksgiving. It's controlled chaos to put together all of this food.
- 1,000 lbs. of turkey breast
- 400 lbs. of potatoes
- 300 lbs. of stuffing
- 300 lbs. of green beans
- 20 gallons of gravy
- 4,508 slices of pumpkin pie
Making the food is taxing enough. Putting individual platters together is a nightmare. But with the help of hundreds of volunteers, they make it look easy.
The assembly line moves thousands of meals through in an hour and a half. When all is said and done, they shut down shop around 11:00 a.m. and most are able to enjoy their own Thanksgiving, knowing they had a hand in making someone's day a bit better.
"It feels really good," Kari Braden said. "Good thing to be involved in the community and do some good."
Braden is a special volunteer. She's been doing it since she was 12 years old. Now, she's married and grown up but she still finds time to be a part of this special event. It's something the senior citizens look forward to as the volunteers not only dish out the food but spend time with them when they hand it out.
"They wish them a happy holiday," Hansen said. "So many people are depressed today. They cheer them up. They see the same volunteer mostly because the families most likely get the same buildings so they see little Johnny when he's three years old and now when he's 25 and has his own children."
It's more than just "Happy holiday." The volunteers spend time with them. They catch up and ask questions, maybe watch a little football. The last few years they've also added a hand drawn place mat from area kids. It's all of these little touches to make sure everyone, young and old, has a happy holiday.
"I got a call the other day and a woman from the East Side, she as so down in the dumps and she wanted a meal," Hansen said. "I said, we'll get you a Thanksgiving meal. She said, Jeff, if I didn't have this meal, I'd be eating a peanut butter sandwich. You could tell she was in tears. That makes my day. This makes my day to know that 4,508 people are getting a hot meal when they probably would have opened up a can of soup or something like this."
Community Projects for Seniors does this for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. They say they give out over 4,000 hot meals each time. They have tons of volunteers but are always looking for more help. For those interested, you can visit https://www.cpforseniors.org/.
