It takes 16 20-pound or larger turkeys, five hams, 80 boxes of dressing, 50 pies and a host of other goodies to put on the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the Emporia Church of Christ.
The church, at 12th Avenue and Neosho Street, has been tirelessly serving the Emporia community for 18 years with its annual dinner.
The first dinner the church served was in 1991. It started out in the basement of the church that seated 40 people, said Mike Alpers, coordinator of the dinner. Alpers said there are a lot of people in town who don’t have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving, including international students and other community members. Alpers said there are people who come from Hutchinson and Kansas City to eat dinner with family because Emporia is in the middle. Also, the retirement communities in Emporia have the chance to have a nice meal as well.
Since its inception from a maximum seating of 40 people, the dinner has grown to more than 400 meals served and delivered around town. The church does individual and bulk delivery, Alpers added. Invitations also are extended to local law enforcement.
“Those guys are working on the holiday and can come by for a quick meal,” he said.
The meal is now served in an addition to the church. More than 40 people volunteer on Thanksgiving Day to help cook, serve and deliver, Alpers said. The congregation has an average attendance of about 70 people, he said.
“Most organizations of this type have about 10 percent of people who work,” Alpers said. “This is not the case here. People chip in however they can. It’s a great thing to give back. We’re commanded to give back. It’s a small congregation and everybody chips in. We have big hearts.”
The meal is so big that it has to be cooked in two locations around the church — the basement and in the new addition. The dinner has gone high-tech with walkie-talkies used to communicate between the two areas, Alpers said.
“They have a blast,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
Funding for the event is all done within the church. Donations are neither requested during the meal nor solicited. The meal is completely free to the community. Leftovers go to Plumb Place.
Alpers said once he started volunteering for the meal, he knew it was something he needed to do.
“After you do it once, you know that’s where you need to be,” he said.
The church members have the day down pat, Alpers said. There are lines of people who serve, people who cook and people who deliver.
“Pretty much everybody shows up and they know what they are going to do and what they want to do,” he said. “It’s a huge commitment on the women that are cooking there.”
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