Salvation Army to hold free community Thanksgiving Day dinner in Aiken

Dede Biles, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·3 min read

Oct. 4—One Table won't be returning this year, but there still will be a free community dinner on Thanksgiving Day in Aiken.

The Salvation Army of Aiken will be serving the meal from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 23 at its shelter at 604 Park Ave. S.E.

"Everybody is welcome," said Capt. Randy Tiller.

The Salvation Army is seeking donations of food and money for the event.

"We prefer prepared food," Tiller said. "We would love to have things like mashed potatoes, rice, green beans, corn and stuffing."

Tiller's suggestions for food donations also included desserts such as cakes, cupcakes and pies.

"We would really like them to be in disposable containers," Tiller said.

Precooked turkeys also will be accepted, but Tiller is asking their donors to "pull the meat off the bones" because "it's really hard to store a whole turkey."

The prepared food should be brought to the Salvation Army's shelter from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 21 and 22.

The Salvation Army will accept donations of uncooked turkeys at its headquarters at 322 Gayle Ave., but they should be delivered to that location by Nov. 16, Tiller said.

Anyone wishing to donate food in cans or boxes for the community dinner should bring them to the Salvation Army's shelter by that date, Tiller added.

After being canceled because of concerns about COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, One Table returned last year. The Salvation Army teamed up with One Table's organizers to provide the meal.

The event was held at the Salvation Army's Gayle Avenue headquarters instead of in its traditional location, The Alley.

But last week, Kathryn Wade, One Table's chief organizer for many years, told the Aiken Standard that event had been scrapped for 2023 because adequate kitchen and food storage facilities weren't available.

The Salvation Army has stepped up to offer a free Thanksgiving Day dinner on its own because "we didn't want the community to be without at this special time," Tiller said.

Such an event is an opportunity for fellowship, he continued.

"It brings people together from all different walks of life and they sit down and have a meal," Tiller said. "We want them to still be able to do that. We don't want anybody to go without on Thanksgiving."

The community dinner will take place at the shelter instead of the Salvation Army's headquarters because "a lot of the folks that we want to serve live closer to the shelter," Tiller said. "It's hard for them to walk that far [to get to Gayle Avenue]."

When One Table was being conducted annually on a regular basis on Thanksgiving Day, the Salvation Army offered a free dinner to several hundred people in the community just prior to Thanksgiving, Tiller said.

For more information about making donations to the Salvation's Army's free community Thanksgiving Day dinner this year, call 803-641-4141.

Those wishing to volunteer to help out during the event can also contact the Salvation Army at that number and ask to speak to Joe Rocheford.

According to a story that appeared in the Aiken Standard and included a history of One Table, the United Way of Aiken County in 2004 asked Eddie George, who then was working for the Aiken Department of Public Safety, to expand a planned Thanksgiving meal for on-duty officers to include others who might not otherwise be able to enjoy a holiday dinner.

One Table became an annual gathering, but it was canceled in 2014 because the volunteers needed a break and Wade, who by then had a major planning role, was going to be visiting Israel during the Thanksgiving holiday.

One Table resumed in 2015 and was renewed each year through 2019.

Based on estimates, more than 2,000 people turned out for some of the editions of One Table in The Alley.