Community meals offer warm welcome on Thanksgiving

There will be plenty of time for giving thanks later. Right now there are practical concerns to attend to — primarily where you’ll be strapping on a feedbag Thursday.

Few holidays are more closely associated with food than Thanksgiving, when gratitude is best served with a side of cranberry sauce and heaping helpings of mashed potatoes.

If your dinner plans are still in flux or you’re not sure what to do with the turkey once you get past “defrost” on the instructions, there are several places around town that have it covered.

Every Thursday, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in State College hosts a free community dinner and Thanksgiving would hardly be the time to start shaking things up.

Turkey and all of the traditional fixings will be brandished from noon to 2 p.m. in the church’s community cafe, a smorgasbord of stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans

Ron Rovansek, coordinator of Thursday’s dinner, said that the Thanksgiving celebration is an opportunity for anyone and everyone to come in out of the cold and enjoy a holiday atmosphere of friendship and camaraderie.

“That’s more important at the holidays than ever,” Rovansek said.

If you’re conjuring an image of a few lonely souls scattered pitifully throughout a lonely dining hall — don’t. Last year, the kitchen prepared 17 turkeys and Rovansek is expecting to entertain nearly 120 guests on Thursday.

Aside from a few homemade pies prepared by members of the congregation, a majority of the food was donated by local grocery stores — and it sounds like there will be plenty to go around.

“No one should feel like they’re not welcome,” Rovansek said.

That sentiment is echoed over at Mount Nittany United Methodist Church in State College, which over the years has hosted demographics ranging from Penn State students to older couples without any family.

This year’s annual Thanksgiving dinner will be held on Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and feature all of the usual suspects, a lineup of stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables (don’t worry, pie has also been confirmed).

“Each year we have it, it increases,” Wendy Franklin, banquet coordinator, said.

Last year, the church and its volunteers served 177 people on site in addition to the other meals it delivered to people unable to leave their homes or stuck manning the holiday shift at work.

“We like to make sure that people who don’t have any place to go have some place to go,” Franklin said.

It’s a nice sentiment, but if you live closer to Spring Mills, Old Gregg School Community and Recreation Center may be an easier commute if you don’t mind eating a day early. Penns Valley Community Church and the Penns Valley Youth Center will be hosting their annual Thanksgiving meal there from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Darren Narber, director of student ministries at PVCC, said that the dinner has evolved into more of a communitywide event since its inception nearly half a decade ago. People donate food and pies to accompany yet another traditional Thanksgiving spread of turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans and other goodies.

Most of the food will go bad after a few days, but gratitude and generosity have a much longer shelf life.

“I think any time of year its important to show God’s love for people in real and tangible ways,” Narber said.

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Community meals offer warm welcome on Thanksgiving."