This year marks the sixth year for the Jerry Lewis' McDonald's Thanksgiving day dinner, which was started in 1989 by the Chester Carey Family.
The Jerry Lewis's McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Dinner will be held on Thursday, Nov. 25th from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Lima Veteran's Memorial Civic and Convention Center.
The dinner will include the traditional Thanksgiving fixings including turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie and more. The dinner will be prepared to feed 2500 guests. As a result the dinner includes 800 pounds of turkey, 800 pounds of mashed potatoes, 540 pounds of stuffing, 300 pounds of gravy, more than 200 pies and more than 24 pounds of whipped cream.
The dinner is open to the public, everyone is welcome, and there is no cost for the guests.
In addition to the dinner there will be clothing and grocery giveaways. Only Believe Ministries in Botkins, will bring a school bus filled with clothing. Guests will be able to take with them any needed clothing items including pants, shirts, shoes, coats and hats.
The grocery giveaways are made possible through the generous donations of many local organizations including:
- Stite's Grocery,
- Monsanto Ag,
- the Boy Scouts of Allen County,
- Maverick Media and
- Save-A-Lot Food Stores.
"Our goal is not to feed someone for just one meal, but to provide them with enough food for several meals. Last year, thanks to the community's generosity, we were able to give three bags of groceries to every guest," says McDonald's owner Jerry Lewis.
Area residents can donate non-perishable food items and toiletry items between now and Thanksgiving at the Scout Shop in Lima at 752 Robb Ave.
In addition, Maverick Media and its radio stations will hold live radio remotes on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 23 and 24 at both Lima Save-A-Lot locations on Bellefontaine Avenue and Cole Street.
As residents are completing their own Thanksgiving Shopping they can add a bag of groceries to their order to be donated to guests at the Thanksgiving Day Dinner.
"Year after we continue to be amazed at the community's willingness to give up their own Thanksgiving to serve one another," said Lewis. At this time we have plenty of volunteers for the 2010 dinner. We are currently taking names for volunteers for the 2011 Jerry Lewis' McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Dinner.
For more information about the Jerry Lewis' McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Dinner or to sign up to volunteer for the 2011 call 419-225-5916.
