By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The 13th year of the Community Thanksgiving Feast organized by the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance was like no other.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the popular event required major reorganization by the volunteers, turning it from the traditional sit-down dinner to drive-through contactless curbside pick-up.
"Not like any Thanksgiving meal we've ever done before," said Rev. Celeste Lasich, head of the organizing committee.
The spirit of community, though, remained unchanged, Lasich said.
"We're still dining together, even though we're under different roofs this time.
"The entire community has come together to make this a safe, joyful and grateful Thanksgiving."
There were more than 800 online pre-registrations for the free traditional turkey dinners with sides and pumpkin pie distributed between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday. Registrants were assigned pick-up times in 15-minute increments to prevent backed up traffic.
In previous years, the dinner has attracted between 500 and 600 attendees.
Organizers had initially planned on distributing 750 free meals but 783 meals were reserved by the Nov. 14 deadline, so the amount of food ordered was increased.
Most people picked up their dinners in a drive-through lane in front of Gella's Diner, 117 E. 11th St. Volunteer drivers also delivered contactless meals to those unable to drive to downtown Hays.
Free-will donations were made by many of the drive-in diners. The money will go to the ECMA Second Mile Fund.
Volunteers coordinated by Laura Allen with First Call for Help were spread out for three blocks between Gella's and the Community Assistance Center on East 12th.
They manned the registration stop, traffic control and carry out of the dinners packaged in plastic bags from the restaurant to vehicles. Other volunteers coordinated the food flow and packaging inside Gella's.
"We've set this up safely, coordinating with every health department, hospital and law enforcement protocol that we can," Lasich said.
Free bags of groceries were also available to those in the drive-through lane, handed out by more volunteers.
The food was collected from donors Nov. 21 at local grocery stores, then sorted and bagged by volunteers Wednesday evening in the gym of Celebration Community Church.
All the volunteers wore face masks, had access to bottles of sanitizer, and Downtown Hays Development Corporation's portable hand sanitizer machines were set up in several locations.
"We have the best volunteers," Lasich said with enthusiasm.
There were a number of filled grocery bags left over at the end of the event and taken to First Call For Help.
All the turkey dinners were distributed.
Unregistered individuals hoping to pick up unclaimed meals were disappointed, but were able to drive away with a bag full of groceries.
Lasich was honored in mid-January by the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance for her leadership of the Community Thanksgiving Dinner.
No one had any idea of the major changes they would soon confront because of COVID-19.