Free Thanksgiving meals, to-go boxes offered in the region

Olivia Belanger, The Keene Sentinel, N.H.
Updated ·3 min read

Nov. 16—With Thanksgiving fast approaching, several local organizations are offering free turkey dinners for their neighbors in need.

Here's what's available this year:

To-go boxes

The Community Kitchen at 37 Mechanic St. in Keene offers food boxes filled with all the fixings, according to Executive Director Sarah Harpster. The box is in addition to two-weeks' worth of food for an entire household, given through the kitchen's pantry program, which will not be operating next week.

Harpster said the nonprofit began distributing boxes Wednesday and will continue to do so Thursday. The kitchen is expecting to give out about 350 boxes.

Harpster noted that people can register the day of distribution and take home food that same day. Income and residency must be verified during the registration process.

The Fall Mountain Food Shelf at 122 Route 12A in Langdon typically serves about 800 people with take-home boxes for Thanksgiving, Director Mary Lou Huffling said.

The boxes will be packed at Cold River Materials — a company in Walpole that donated its space to the food shelf — on Friday, she added. Food pickup is available at 43 Scale Lane in Walpole Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.

Anyone interested in receiving a box, or in volunteering their time, can contact Huffling directly at 835-2283.

Sit-down meals

The Keene Assembly of God at 121 Park Ave. will open its doors for Thanksgiving this year, after putting a sit-down meal on hiatus amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The church's Facebook page says the dinner will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Anyone is invited, according to the church's Facebook page, and takeout is available. The menu consists of turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans, corn, carrots and pies.

The Beaver Brook Lodge at 181 Marlboro St. in Keene is also hosting a dinner on Thanksgiving Day "for anyone who needs a hot meal or just a few kind words," according to its Facebook page. Dinner will be served from 4 to 6 p.m. For more information, contact 852-1343.

Also on Thanksgiving Day, a Facebook event says the First Baptist Church at 105 Maple Ave. in Keene is offering a dinner at noon. All are welcome, according to the church.

In Winchester, the Grace Christian Fellowship at 81 Ashuelot St. will offer a free turkey dinner on Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. An event flyer says any Winchester residents are welcome. Call 603-355-7014 for more information.

The annual Ralph Rines Memorial Dinner in Swanzey has been canceled for the third year in a row, according to organizer JoAnn Rines Barnes. This would have been the event's 48th year of gathering the community for a hot meal.

"We seat over 100 [people], and I can't ask drivers to do deliveries with gas prices and all," she said.

Barnes' father, the late Ralph Rines, a former Swanzey police chief, started the tradition at the Community Church of West Swanzey that she has kept up for nearly five decades.

If you know of other free Thanksgiving meals being offered in the Monadnock Region, please contact us at news@keenesentinel.com.

This article has been changed to correct the time and date of the dinner at Grace Christian Fellowship in Winchester.

Funding for the Monadnock Region Health Reporting Lab comes from several sources, including The Sentinel and several local businesses and private donors. We continue to seek additional support. The newsroom maintains full editorial control over all content produced by the lab. Olivia Belanger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or obelanger@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBelangerKS.