By JACINDA HOWARD, The Mirror
Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, bread, cranberries — all the trimmings and friendly company can be found at Calvary Lutheran Church this Thanksgiving.
For many low-income and homeless Federal Way citizens, the luxuries of Thanksgiving can seem unattainable, but places that provide hearty food and sociable company for the holiday do exist in and near Federal Way.
Calvary Lutheran Church, 2415 S. 320th St., will host a Thanksgiving day dinner. The church has provided weekly Thursday night dinners, including a Thanksgiving dinner, for 15 years, said Jan Olson, Thursday dinner administrative coordinator.
The church’s dinners attract people from as far away as Seattle, she said. The homeless, low-income, families with small children and the elderly generally attend the dinners, but the church’s doors are open to anyone who needs a meal, even on Thanksgiving.
Starting at 5 p.m. Thursday, Calvary Lutheran Church volunteers will begin serving a feast. The dinner will include traditional foods, such as turkey, potatoes, produce, bread and pumpkin pie. Numerous people are expected to attend.
In October, an average of 67 people came to the church’s regularly-scheduled Thursday dinners, Olson said. With this in mind, she and other volunteers will spend the days before the holiday preparing for the Thanksgiving supper. As of Nov. 16, 44 pounds of turkey had been roasted and sliced in preparation for the meal, Olson said. An additional 20 to 30 pounds is on the way, she said. The church is not sure how much food it will need.
“We aim to have more than we need,” Olson said.
The food used for the church’s dinners is provided by Food Lifeline, a hunger relief agency in Seattle, along with food banks, church-goers’ donations and local businesses, such as Great Harvest Bread and Safeway, Olson said. Thanksgiving leftovers will be used in casseroles and served in future dinners, she said.
About 70 volunteers, organized in five teams, will shop, cook and serve the Thanksgiving meal, then clean up afterward, Olson said. A group of homeless men who regularly attend the dinners usually show up early — and volunteer to set up the tables and chairs, she said.
“I don’t know what we would do without (the volunteers),” Olson said.
Calvary Lutheran Church staff and volunteers make sure to treat each dinner attendee with respect, Olson said. This is why the organization has chosen to serve the guests, rather than set up a food line.
For many who attend the weekly dinners, the church is a place to get a hot meal as well as feel welcomed by friends, Olson said. This year, the respect and care shown for each guest will not only be seen through the church volunteers’ actions, but displayed on the table right in front of each guest.
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Star Lake students’ place mats
Placed at each setting will be a hand-made cornucopia place mat. Each of the vibrant items was colored by either a first- or fourth-grader at Star Lake Elementary School. First-grade teacher Karen Caldara and fourth-grade teacher Cindy Wakatsuki gathered their students Friday to color the place mats.
Desks were pushed together to create tables. Boxes and cartons of colored pencils, markers and crayons were brought out for the special occasion. The children asked Caldara for advice on what hue to color the vegetables on the paper place mats. They talked about who was the best colorer and by what means they chose their coloring utensils. They were careful to color inside the lines and make the place mats visually appealing. The goal was to finish 100 of the items.
For the children, a Friday afternoon spent coloring, laughing, socializing and showing off their artwork was joyful. Wakatsuki and Caldara hope that the finished products will bring just as much joy to those who use the place mats on Thursday.
“It is fun to get something from a child,” Wakatsuki said.
Before starting the community service art project, Wakatsuki and Caldara told the children to “color with love.” Putting time and effort into the place mats demonstrates that the children care about the people who will use the items, Wakatsuki said.
“It shows that people in the community are thinking about them and caring about them,” she said.
The teachers both attend Calvary Lutheran Church, and Caldara thought it would be a great idea to present those in need of a hot Thanksgiving feast with a place mat to catch any stray pieces of dinner.
In addition to being a community service project, the place mats fit well into the school’s theme this month: Community contributor. Each month, the school adopts a new theme, Wakatsuki said. The staff uses that theme as a guideline for teaching the children how to be a successful in their community and, in the future, their place of employment.
The place mats will show the children that helping and showing concerns for others, working harmoniously and providing services all contribute to a successful community, the teachers noted.
Contact Jacinda Howard: jhoward@fedwaymirror.com or (253) 925-5565.
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How to help
To volunteer with Calvary Lutheran Church at its Thursday dinners, call Heather Anderson at (253) 508-4556.
The Multi-Service Center will provide Thanksgiving dinner items for approximately 1,000 low-income and homeless citizens. Recipients have already been determined. Call (253) 838-6810 or visit the Multi-Service Center at 1200 S. 336th St. in Federal Way.
St. Theresa’s Parish and Society of St. Vincent de Paul will give out 65 to 70 food baskets with all of the fixings for a holiday dinner this Thanksgiving. Recipients have already been determined.
