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At Thanksgiving, The Salvation Army strives to reach those left out of the holiday cheer—the lost, the destitute, and the lonely, seeking to include all in the family of God by showing his love. Below are just a few examples of the Army’s ministry…
Cascade—The Salvation Army in Idaho Falls will feed over 1,000 at the Elk’s Lodge and will deliver meals to shut-ins, the disabled and the elderly. U.S. Cellular will provide phones at the event for people to call their families.
Del Oro—On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, The Oakland Corps, working with Feed the Children and the NFL, will provide 400 boxes of food, milk and personal items to 400 families. Four players from the Oakland Raiders (Kerry Collins, Marques Tuiasosopo, Zack Crockett, Marques Anderson) will be at the corps to meet the kids and help with distribution.
On Thanksgiving Day, the Hayward Corps will hold their 19th annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Over 200 volunteers are involved and they are expecting over 1,600 people. The Auburn Corps is expecting over 2,200 at their Thanksgiving Day Dinner and they will also be delivering 300 meals to homebound individuals.
The Saturday before Thanksgiving, The Sacramento Ray Robinson Oak Park Community Center, partnering with Maloof Sports & Entertainment, will distribute 250 food boxes, with volunteers from the Maloof organization assembling the boxes. In addition, Doug Christie (Sacramento Kings) and his wife are expected to help with distribution at the event.
Golden State—With the help of over 250 volunteers, the Bakersfield Temple, supported by the Bakersfield Corps, will serve over 1,200 meals and distribute food baskets. Ninety turkeys, donated with the help of KDUV-FM radio’s annual Turkey Toss, will be deep-fried. The event includes a puppet show for children, Christian rap music for youth and special music for adults in English and Spanish. The Army has been serving the Thanksgiving meal to the community for the past 60 years.
At the Modesto Centre Plaza, the Army will hold its 19th annual “Thanks-for-Giving Dinner.” Mallard’s Restaurants, Inc. will prepare the meal and about 1,000 will be served in style, with linens, china and silver. The celebration includes clowns, face painting, music, games for the kids, complimentary family portraits and phone calls to anywhere in the U.S. The City donates bus transportation to the event.
The Harbor Light Center in San Francisco will hold its annual Thanksgiving Meal Delivery program, providing 2,000 meals to homebound seniors and shut-ins. More than 30 volunteers form the San Francisco Fire and Police Departments help carve the 100 turkeys, donated by AAA and Harold de Luca. At the San Francisco ARC, the Cheesecake Factory will serve dinner to 300 people, including ARC and Harbor Light clients and their families along with clients from the Friendship House, a rehabilitation program geared to help Native Americans.
At the Hanford Corps, over 500 will be served a traditional holiday meal plus turkey tamales, rice and beans. In San Jose, more than 1,000 will enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.
Hawaiian & Pacific Islands—In Honolulu, the Army will hold its 34th annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the Blaisdell Center on Thanksgiving Day. Hundreds will be served—children, seniors, the homeless and those without a place to go. All are welcome; no one is turned away. Comedian Frank DeLima will emcee a host of local entertainers before the meal and Mayor Jeremy Harris will welcome guests. Similar dinners will take place at all Army locations on neighbor islands.
Intermountain—The Salt Lake City Corps, working with Meals on Wheels, will provide a full Thanksgiving dinner to about 1,500 shut-ins. More than 200 volunteers will work with Salvation Army chefs to prepare and deliver the meals. In the homeless dining room, 500-700 individuals will receive a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, plus care bags of personal items.
The Denver Salvation Army will provide turkeys for home preparation for those in need, as well as hosting a traditional dinner for hundreds on Thanksgiving Day with food donated by King Soopers. The meal will be held at the Colorado Convention Center and prepared by the culinary staff at the Brown Palace Hotel. Over 2,000 people are expected. In addition, over 200 volunteers will deliver dinners to shut-ins and seniors.
In an effort bringing together the U.S. Army and The Salvation Army, the Army in Colorado Springs/El Paso County will serve dinner to 5,000 people on Thanksgiving Day at five locations. The food will be prepared in the kitchens of the Fort Carson Army Base and served by Salvation Army volunteers.
Southern California—On Thanksgiving Day, Bell Shelter will host Thanksgiving lunch for their residents and clients of Harbor Light, Safe Harbor, Harmony Hall, the Haven, and Booth Memorial. For the third year, The Cheesecake Factory is sponsoring the meal—providing every kind of cheesecake they make, plus turkey and all the trimmings. Restaurant personnel will prepare and serve the meal, with the head chef for all the Cheesecake Factories supervising. The CEO will join in the food service. Over 700 people are expected.
DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, will serve as title sponsor for the Southern California Division’s Thanksgiving Eve Dinner in Los Angeles, providing meals for 2,400 homeless and low-income people, more than 250 Disney VoluntEAR servers, an entertainment show hosted by comedian Bob Saget, and toys for everyone present. Among the volunteer servers will be Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn, other local government officials, several television performers and sports figures.