When you’re prepping a meal for 800 people, you start early.
Dozens of volunteers gathered at Edmonton’s Leefield Community Centre on Thanksgiving morning to prepare a free feast.
The annual Thanksgiving dinner is part of a decades-long tradition.
It started 30 years ago, down the street at a laundromat. The owners at the time, Shirley and Don Tripp, counted their blessings and squeezed in a turkey dinner with all the fixings between the washers and dryers.
The Tripps have since passed, but Jane Hwang has taken over the laundromat business and the Thanksgiving luncheon legacy.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” said Hwang. “So I like to continue to do it.
“I like to give them hot food. It’s just a small thing.”
That small thing has served thousands of people over the years and the number of people lining up to get a meal in south Edmonton has continued to grow.
It’s families, seniors and people without a home. The cost of groceries has been a hard reality for many who can no longer afford to dish out a turkey dinner on their own.
“To buy a turkey for a single family and do a dinner, it’s like at $100 for a family of four,” said Elaine Dyrberg, a minister with Thrive Outreach Edmonton. “So this gives them an opportunity to invite their loved ones and come celebrate.
“They need to forget and leave all their baggage behind and be thankful.”
Thrive Outreach Foundation, the Leefield Community League, along with family and friends of the Millbourne Laundromat, have banded together to continue the annual event and count on the helping hands and donations from the community.
Dyrberg said Edmonton’s Food Bank donated 80 turkeys.
Jeremy Lehman and his local company, Vertical Roots Edmonton, answered the call and donated 400 heads of romaine lettuce.
“The whole point of this business is to be able to give back fresh greens,” said Lehman.
All too aware of the rising cost of groceries, Lehman said making sure people have fresh, healthy and affordable produce is critical.
“I think outside of myself and people that are on the line of poverty, people that are struggling and maybe only have one income.”
By the afternoon, a steady stream of people lined up as volunteers dished out the dinner.
Jordan Reves, a single father, said he’s been to the laundromat for the free dinner in the past. He keeps coming back and is thankful for the community connections.
“A lot of people don’t have families close by so they don’t have anybody to share it with,” he said.
“It was delicious then, it’s delicious now.”
As local groups struggle to do more with less and stretch their finances, Dyrberg stressed the community will always be there for those who need it most.
“You can’t put a price on love. You can’t put a price on fellowship. That’s how I look at it.”