Putting the Community Back into Community Meals
Captain Ray Morris and Salvation Army Advisory Board Member Codie Carpenter prepping for the Thanksgiving meal.
By Cole Goodwin
Holidays are all about celebrating with our community. In the spirit of community helping community, this year Salvation Army will serve a free community carry-out Thanksgiving meal from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM on November 25th, 2021 at St. Mary’s Academy.
On the menu, this year is turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, gravy, and of course, pumpkin pie.
While the free community meal has been served rain or shine every year for over two decades, the past two years pandemic has presented unique challenges for the event.
“Praying saved Thanksgiving this year,” said Captain Ray Morris. “In the past, the college was the place that we cooked the meal. But we couldn’t use the college this year because it was rented out. So we had to put the community back into the community meal. Lots of people stepped up to make the community meal happen this year. This is really all about the community helping the community.”
The event was made possible this year by the work of over 40 volunteers and several local businesses who donated their time, food, and resources to make sure the event went smoothly. Community partners for this year's free Community Meal include St. Mary’s Academy, Bargeway, ClockTower Ales, Rivertap, Fred Meyers, and Cobblestone Catering.
“Every moment of camaraderie with the volunteers is a blessing in my life,” said Morris.
Free Community Meal Volunteers prepping to serve the free Thanksgiving meal.
Meals will be taken to-go this year as dining in was not an option due to the pandemic.
“We are doing carry-out again this year because it was so successful last year,” said Morris.
In the morning, from 10:00 AM to noon, over 20 volunteer drivers will make free meal deliveries to individuals who cannot come and pick up their meal. Reservations for deliveries had to be made by 4:00 PM on November 24th. Community members were also encouraged to reserve their meal by 4:00 PM on the 24th. However, Morris said that no one would be turned away as long as there was still food to share. Any leftover food will be donated to Community Meals to benefit houseless individuals in The Dalles.
Morris said he anticipates that they will serve over 500 warm Thanksgiving meals to the community this year.
“My first year, we did 700 meals, and that was when we could do sit-down dine-in,” said Morris, “Then covid hit, and we switched to carry-out. I like to say we did carry out before carry out was cool. So when I was talking to the Oregon Health Authorities, they said we were doing more than they would ask any restaurant to do. And I said, well, that’s because the Salvation Army sets the bar. We weren’t going to let covid stop this. We served between 550-575 meals last year.”
“Every moment of this is special for me.” said Morris “God called me to the ministry inside the Salvation Army, and this is my 22nd year. I love handing out food to families and talking to kids. The kids are always asking about the pie. It seems like every kid in this town loves pumpkin pie. But I have found two kids that prefer apple pie, and they are my buddies now because I prefer apple pie too.”
Morris shared stories of how serving the community meal has helped him connect with people from all walks of life.
“I’ve only been an officer for about eight years, but there are two past events that really stick in my mind,” said Morris. “One year, there was a homeless individual that I’ve seen around town that was waiting in line, and he was causing a ruckus worried he wouldn’t get to eat. And I went and talked to him and told him that since we were coming to the end of the line, we could send him home with two meals, and his whole demeanor changed. He went from being argumentative to being very grateful. He just wanted to be heard out. So I heard him out, and we talked, and it changed the whole experience.”
“And there was this lady who gave us a very generous donation who told us that the cranberries reminded her of her mother,” said Morris, “And that stuck with me. It still tears me up today that the meal we served brought out positive memories for her about family and parents.”
“And there was a couple of folks over at the Senior Center who used to help with handing out the meals, and now they come here to get a free meal. They were involved in helping, and now they are the helped, and I got to tell them that we had gratitude for them helping to make sure this event happened and that we appreciated their work, and we’re happy to help them now. It’s all about helping the community,” said Morris.
