They put the ‘giving’ in Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving plans for many include gathering with family, feasting, watching football or basketball, more feasting, looking for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and feasting yet again.

For others, though, part of their Thanksgiving plans includes volunteering, donating and serving.

Their roles often begin in the days leading up to Thanksgiving as they provide meal supplies, prepare food, organize festivities and decorate parish gyms and hall.

ST. BONIFACE THANKSGIVING BAZAAR

THE ELGIN REVIEW

At St. Boniface in Elgin, planning for a 100-year-old community feast began months ago.

For this year’s 100-year anniversary of the St. Boniface Thanksgiving Bazaar, hundreds of volunteers have helped mix old traditions with a couple new ones.

A giant meal that will fill more than a thousand people is an old tradition. The food will be served at St. Boniface auditorium from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and includes turkey, sauerkraut and ribs, sausage, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, corn, cranberries and a variety of desserts.

Some of the meals will be served as take-out, while others dine in. There will be bingo games for kids and adults and several drawings for prizes.

THE ELGIN REVIEW

But before all the fun and feasting begins, an  8:15 a.m. Mass will be offered at St. Boniface Church, and an 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Neligh, which both part of the same parish family.

New this year to the St. Boniface celebration is a 9 a.m. Turkey Trot run/walk that doesn’t require a fee but instead asks for donations of non-perishable food items for the Antelope County food pantry.

Also new is a 7 p.m. family night on Thanksgiving at the Knights of Columbus hall in Elgin, where families can gather for games and a trivia contest.

A NEWER COMMUNITY TRADITION

Volunteers prepare food for the community Thanksgiving feast at St. Francis Borgia in Blair. COURTESY PHOTO

For 14 years, St. Francis Borgia Parish in Blair has joined with other churches in Washington County to provide an interdenominational, community-wide Thanksgiving Day meal.

Organizers are expecting to serve smoked turkey, made-from scratch potatoes, green beans and pie to about 800 people for take-out and dine-in meals at the parish social hall.

About 200 volunteers signed up to carve turkeys, mash potatoes, set up the dining room or chop up celery and onions for stuffing.

COURTESY PHOTO

“We do all those things to make a great community meal for anybody to come and eat together,” said JoAnne Jones, a member of St. Francis Borgia who coordinates the event.

People often stay after the meal to sip coffee and socialize. “It’s just a nice place to sit and talk,” Jones said. “It’s just a nice community event.”

The meal is funded through food donations and is free to diners. If people insist on a contribution, a donation box is available.

Volunteers help prepare mashed potatoes in bulk with the help of a drill. COURTESY PHOTO

SERVING THOSE IN NEED

Each year St. Peter Parish in Omaha provides comfort food served in style for people who might otherwise not be able to enjoy a holiday meal.

Catholic Charities of Omaha, meanwhile, does its part each year by helping people celebrate Thanksgiving at home by handing out meal kits in the days ahead of the holiday.

This year, on Nov. 25, volunteers at the organization’s Juan Diego Center in south Omaha loaded waiting cars and trucks with turkeys, produce, side dishes, dairy products, desserts and more.

The food was donated by the Knights of Columbus Council at St. Borromeo Parish in Gretna, Hy-Vee’s bakery, Saving Grace Perishable Food Rescue in Omaha, as well as from parishioners at St. Columbkille in Papillion, St. Gerald in Ralston and St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Stephen the Martyr and St. Vincent de Paul in Omaha.

Students and staff from the St. John Paul II Newman Center in Omaha, members of the St. Stephen the Martyr Knights of Columbus and St. Columbkille parishioners sorted, assembled and helped distribute the meal kits.

Catholic Charities has been handing out the meal kits for 20 years now.

Volunteers load food into a vehicle at the Juan Diego Center. Vehicles lined up for the annual Thanksgiving food distribution. SUSAN SZALEWSKI/STAFF

“This is an event we look forward to every year!” said Dave Vankat, chief community engagement officer for Catholic Charities of Omaha.

“We couldn’t do this alone,” he said. “The amount of support we receive from local businesses and churches is unbelievable.”

ST. PETER

St. Peter Parish partners with nearby Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church to serve between 400 and 500 people each year at a Thanksgiving Banquet in the St. Peter gymnasium.

This year the dinner lasts from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The gym is decked out for the event with ironed tablecloths and mood lighting from an overhead chandelier.

“We don’t turn the gym lights on, because that just makes it feel like a gym,” said Kevin Engelkamp, who with his wife, Cindy, serves with St. Peter’s conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and organizes the Thanksgiving Banquet.

Residents of nearby low-income housing are invited, and residents of the Siena Francis homeless shelter in Omaha are transported to St. Peter by trolley.

Teenage boys dressed in white shirts and bow ties wait on tables, while teen girls serve desserts.

Musician Johnny Ray Gomez plays the accordion and is often joined by other musicians.

The food is donated by members of St. Peter and Kountze Memorial, as well as Wheatfields Eatery & Bakery in Omaha and Rotella’s Italian Bakery in La Vista.

All the diners get a sack lunch to go, too.

Volunteers line up with food at St. Peter’s Thanksgiving Banquet. COURTESY PHOTO

Between 200 and 300 volunteers drive the effort, which began 15 years ago. Many stay to eat and sit at tables with their guests.

“We have people designated to sit at every table so that nobody’s sitting alone and not having somebody to visit with while they’re having their meal,” Kevin Engelkamp said.

Volunteers aim to create a “truly friendly,” “very festive atmosphere.”

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