A dinner that has seen several iterations since its inception in the late 1980s will offer a Thanksgiving dinner to those who need one or will be unable to cook it themselves. Under its current format, the tenth annual such dinner is planned for Nov. 25, Thanksgiving Day.
Bill Ewry and the parishioners of First Congregational Church, along with volunteers from other churches and organizations, will prepare, package and have the dinners delivered on a pick-up basis. Due to COVID concerns, the dinner will not have a sit-down offering in the church’s Fellowship Hall, the second time this has been decided.
“I am writing to announce the 10th Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner. The dinner will once again be hosted by The First Congregational Church of West Haven,” wrote in a letter sent to the Voice. “Again this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will not be a sit-down dinner. The dinner will be served packaged curbside at our church entrance at 464 Campbell Ave.”
The Thanksgiving meal will still have all the fixings of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey, dressing , vegetables and dessert.
For the next nine days, the committee is accepting requests.
“We will be accepting requests for dinners through our church office by phone, our website, or email.
Church Office, 203) 933-6291, website: www.fccwesthaven.org, or email: [email protected]. Requests will be accepted through Friday, Nov.19,” he wrote.
Ewry related that after the meal requests have been received, the requestees will be called with directions prior to Thanksgiving Day.
Usually, the committee asks the community to help with providing things for the dinner, such as favorite desserts. COVID has curtailed that part of the participation as well.
“For safety concerns, we will not be accepting food donations from the community this year.,” Ewry wrote. “Once again, The University of New Haven, through the school’s food services provider, has volunteered to provide some of the food for the dinner.”
As with any community project like this, funds are needed to help make it possible, Ewry is asking those wishing to donate to please do so.
If anyone would like to support the dinner with a monetary donation, the donation should be sent to the church office at 1 Church St., West Haven 06516 attention Bill Ewry with “Thanksgiving Dinner” in the memo.
Begun in the 1980s as a project of the West Haven Clergy Association, the committee of city parishes took the acronym ACTION, the Area Congregations Together in Outreach Networking. The Thanksgiving dinner was intended to help the needy and homeless, who would not have a dinner. Quickly, it became apparent a broader outreach was needed.
Seniors with no family, those who could not be with family, and even those families who just wanted to be part of a bigger event expanded the scope. City organizations, merchants, bakers and others took part helping prepare the meal, which was served to homebound residents as well as the sit-down dinner in the Fellowship Hall of First Church.
The project was then taken over by another committee, which attempted to expand the services offered, under the direction of the Rev. Arthur Yost, then-pastor of First Methodist Church. Eventually, the dinner had to be separated from the other activities, and was reorganized by Ewry and others.