ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - Final preparations for Thanksgiving dinner in downtown Lima are complete.
Volunteers were working most of the day slicing turkeys, cutting pies and getting all the fixings ready for the hundreds of meals that will be served. The event is now sponsored by Compassionate Ministries of Lima and has been part of Lima's Thanksgiving celebration for decades first started by the Chester Cary family. Volunteers say it's important to keep the meal going as it means so much to so many.
Jonathan Burkey, Executive Director of Compassionate Ministries of Lima says, “Our hope for the meal is that we really just provide a space where people can enjoy fellowship. There are many people who are just lonely on the holiday. Yes, there are many people who are hungry that are in need, but this is really just a wonderful table of fellowship.”
Andrew Lampy started volunteering at the age of 9 and this is his 11th year doing so, “The first couple years I was helping with dish washing here in the kitchen and over the years I've moved up and I'm cutting turkeys and do a lot of cooking with the meat Thanksgiving Day.”
It is Terron Boblitt’s 1st year volunteering and says, “It just gives you like a good feeling in your heart makes you just grateful for what we have.”
Here's what you need to know if you are going. It’s from 10:30 am to 1 pm and it's free for everyone. You can dine-in, or you can drive through by lining up along Elizabeth Street beside the Wingate Inn. West Ohio Food Bank will be on hand distributing non-perishable food boxes to those who need them, and the Allen County Regional Transit Authority will be running special routes from 9:45 am to 1:45 pm. You can find that schedule at RTA website and click the Thanksgiving Day at the Civic Center link.
