Fort Bragg church serves up Thanksgiving spirit for 28th year

The following is a press release issued by the Fort Bragg Presbyterian Church:

For the 28th year, the Fort Bragg Presbyterian Church will be hosting the annual FREE Community Thanksgiving Dinner, feeding coastal residents from Westport to Albion. Dinners of turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, dinner roll, and pie will be provided to more than a thousand coast residents at no charge, thanks to generous financial and in-kind donations from the business community and individuals.

This year, community members will have three options for how they would like to receive a meal: curbside pickup (from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), home delivery (beginning at 10:00 a.m.), and in-person dining (12:30 p.m., at 367 S. Sanderson Way). Reservations are required for all dinners—those served at the church as well as those delivered or picked up. Reservations can be made online, at https://fbpchurch.org/community-thanksgiving-dinner/, or by phone, at 707-964-2316, ext. 2 (calls will be returned within 24 hours).

For the last several years, home delivery has been the most popular option, with hundreds of Thanksgiving dinners being brought to residences all along the coast. Because of the time needed to plan and coordinate delivery routes and drivers, reservations for home delivery will close the week before Thanksgiving, at the end of Friday, November 22. After that, curbside pickup and in-person dining reservations will continue to be accepted until the end of Tuesday, November 26 or until seating capacity is reached..

This year, everyone who chooses in-person dining will gather together for a single seating, at 12:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, enabling our faithful volunteers, who arrive so early in the morning, to spend time with their loved ones later in the day. Seating is limited to 100, so anyone who would like to dine at the church should be sure to make their reservation as soon as possible. (A bonus for those dining in person: stuffing!)

The event is entirely volunteer-driven, with Kathy Hart stepping up as the new volunteer Director. Volunteers are needed for a variety of duties, from food prep, packaging and meal service to cleanup and traffic control, between Monday, Nov. 25, and Thanksgiving Day. Volunteer delivery drivers, working in teams of two, also are needed. Those interested in volunteering should visit the Community Thanksgiving Dinner webpage (https://fbpchurch.org/community-thanksgiving-dinner/) for signup instructions and a list of the available shifts and duties.

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Another way the community can participate is by donating “Dessert Dollars” through local businesses to ensure that each of the more than 1,000 meals served includes a dinner roll and dessert. Shoppers can add a dessert donation in any amount during checkout on their next trip to Harvest Market, in Fort Bragg, or Mendosa’s, in Mendocino, or they can place a dessert donation order through A Sweet Affair Patisserie’s online store (www.asweetaffairpatisserie.com/online-store). Students in the Fort Bragg High School Culinary Arts program will, again, participate in the dessert drive, this year committing to a contribution of 40 pumpkin pies.

Monetary donations are, of course, welcome—they help with the significant costs of providing the many meals to our coastal community. You can donate online (click on the “Give Now” button on the event webpage, at https://fbpchurch.org/community-thanksgiving-dinner/); mail your donation to the church; or drop your donation in the mail slot to the left of the church front door. Donations made on Thanksgiving Day can be given to our delivery drivers or placed in our donation baskets.

While the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner is organized and hosted by the Fort Bragg Presbyterian Church, it is a true community endeavor.

“There is no better place to feel the spirit of Thanksgiving than on the Mendocino Coast, where countless donors and over a 150+ volunteers of various faiths and from all walks of life come together in a heartwarming display of kindness, inclusion and gratitude,” said Hart. “Though many factors may separate us, the Community Thanksgiving Dinner enables us to recognize our connections through community, hope in the future, and a spirit of something greater than ourselves.”

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