Hundreds served during Salvation Army Thanksgiving Dinner drive through

Kortny Hahn, Cheboygan Daily Tribune
·2 min read
Before the event at the Knights of Columnbus Hall started last Wednesday, there were three lines of vehicles lined up, waiting to pick up a Thanksgiving dinner from the Cheboygan Salvation Army.
Before the event at the Knights of Columnbus Hall started last Wednesday, there were three lines of vehicles lined up, waiting to pick up a Thanksgiving dinner from the Cheboygan Salvation Army.

CHEBOYGAN — During the Cheboygan Salvation Army Thanksgiving Dinner drive through event last Wednesday, hundreds of members of the community were served a hot meal to celebrate the holiday.

"We are prepared to serve 500 meals through our drive through and home delivered meals," said Cheboygan Salvation Army Business Manager Roman Hank. "This is a community effort with the Catholic Community of Cheboygan and all of our donors."

Hanks said the Salvation Army is grateful for the outpouring of generosity that has been shown throughout the years in Cheboygan County.

Volunteers inside the Knights of Columbus Hall packaged the dinners for everyone, separating them into hot and cold items, then sent them out the door to the waiting patrons.
Volunteers inside the Knights of Columbus Hall packaged the dinners for everyone, separating them into hot and cold items, then sent them out the door to the waiting patrons.

For several weeks, the Cheboygan Salvation Army collected donations of turkeys and pumpkin pies, as well as other Thanksgiving dinner staples, to help serve those who needed a meal for the holidays.

"It amazes me every year how the folks give to help their neighbors. We could not do it without everyone’s help," said Hank. "Thank you Cheboygan and I hope everyone has blessed Thanksgiving."

The event at the Knights of Columbus Hall started at 5 p.m. and by that time on Wednesday, there were three lines of cars lined up outside the building, waiting to collect their meals. Volunteers in the parking lot directed the patrons as they came into the parking lot, helping them line up in an orderly fashion and give out tickets for the number of meals each vehicle needed.

Each vehicle would tell a volunteer how many dinners they needed to feed those in their families and the volunteers would package those meals into a box or bags, then deliver them to the vehicle.
Each vehicle would tell a volunteer how many dinners they needed to feed those in their families and the volunteers would package those meals into a box or bags, then deliver them to the vehicle.

Inside the building, multiple other volunteers put the different meals together for those who were receiving them, separating the hot items from the cold and packaging them in boxes or bags, depending on the size of the order.

The goal of this meal was to bring people of the community together, to allow them to have a hot, Thanksgiving meal that they wouldn't necessarily have had otherwise, if it weren't for this event, or those who did not plan on having a family get together.

Traditionally, this event has been hosted inside the Knights of Columbus Hall and people gathered to socialize and spend the holiday together. However, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Salvation Army was able to make modifications to the annual event and make it a drive through.

Contact Features Writer Kortny Hahn at khahn1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @khahnCDT.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Hundreds served during Salvation Army Thanksgiving Dinner drive through