St. Jude all set for Havre Community Thanksgiving Dinner

Whether diners come alone or with family and friends, whether they are locals or visitors, everyone is welcome to a full turkey dinner, with trimmings and companionship, for free for Thanksgiving.

Havre's Community Thanksgiving Dinner is set for Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at St. Jude Parish Center, 440 7th Ave. Sponsored in full by an anonymous donor, this decades-old event serves about 800 meals - at the Parish Center and through home deliveries - each Thanksgiving.

"So we're all set. We have a chef and we have money in the bank and we have everything we need to make this dinner happen," organizer Debi Rhines said, adding that the only addition needed is volunteers to help with preparation before the meal and serving during the meal.

People began approaching Rhines in October about volunteering, she said, and she has a lot of regular volunteers, but having plenty of volunteers makes the work go faster and easier. People are welcome to volunteer whatever time they have.

"Volunteers can come for one hour to two hours," Rhines said. "It's not necessary for them to be there all day because we get so many volunteers."

Volunteering opportunities include:

• Wednesday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. - Vegetable prep, kitchen prep and dining room setup.

• Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. until done - slicing turkeys and pies, and last minute prep.

• Thursday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. - To-go meal prep. and delivery in morning, dinner setup, serving and clean-up remainder of day.

A retired professional chef takes the helm in the kitchen, supported by kitchen staff at Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods and a full crew of volunteers. Rhines said diners will be treated to turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, fresh vegetables, corn and rolls, fresh from the oven, followed by a slice of pumpkin pie.

She said they will have 400 pounds of turkey and 800 dinner rolls prepared for the dinner.

Among the more than 100 volunteers who help put on the dinner is Gus Sharp, who coordinates the delivery drivers and their routes Thanksgiving morning, Rhines said. As volunteers assemble dinners to go, Sharp's team bundles the meals into their respective routes and sends them out with volunteer drivers.

Receptionists at North Central Senior Center are taking reservations for the delivery meals today through Wednesday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., by calling 265-5464.

For more information about volunteering call Rhines at 265-6900 or 265-2737. Anyone who wants to be a delivery driver can call Gus Sharp at 265-1610.