Salvation Army delivers Thanksgiving meals to families across the metro
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Salvation Army delivered 700 Thanksgiving meals to families in need all over the Kansas City metro Wednesday morning.
It took over 60 volunteer drivers and 40 kitchen volunteers to prepare and deliver the 700 Thanksgiving meals to homebound people this holiday.
Salvation Army staff say the effort is only possible with the help of volunteers.
For the last 33 years, Brian Rouse has volunteered his time to make sure people in Kansas City have a meal on Thanksgiving.
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“It’s been really fun. We love serving and seeing all these people get meals,” Rouse said. “You get to see the excitement in the drivers, especially when people come and take the meals. They get excited you take the last names, and you see everybody come back every year, so it’s really exciting.”
This year, the Salvation Army put an emphasis on home deliveries instead of in-person meals to serve more people in need.
“We feel like that is an important service, and there aren’t many other groups delivering meals,” said Major Xavier Montenegro, Kansas City Salvation Army area commander. “We feel like we have the staff and the volunteers to do it, and it’s so great that we have so many volunteers. You can see the commitment they have to come out on the weekday and be able to do this.”
The goal is to give people in need a meal and spread some joy ahead of the holiday.
“It’s always nice when we can get out there for both me and the volunteers to be able to see a smiling face whenever they get the meals because many of These people are often by themselves on the Thanksgiving holiday,” Montenegro said. “So to provide a meal when meals are so expensive and provide some joy and hope is always a blessing.”
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Montenegro says this year, the Kansas City Salvation Army hit a record number of meals delivered.
“We have more than 70 volunteers who have come to help us, so we will be able to pack and deliver meals all over the metro area,” Montenmgero said. “We are delivering 700 meals to people who might be lonely during the Thanksgiving holiday and unable to get out as easily as possible with mobility issues.”
This year, culinary students at the Shawnee Mission School District volunteered and prepared all the sides and fixings for the Thanksgiving meal.
