By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Every year, the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner brings hundreds of people from Hays together in a celebration of community, but like so much else this year, COVID-19 threatened to stifle the festivities.
“No, it’s not going to happen at the Rose Garden, but it’s still going to happen in a way that I am pretty excited about,” said organizer Celeste Lasich.
After discussing many ideas, the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance found a way to move forward with a little help from a well-known Hays restaurant.
“Clearly, we can’t gather 700 people in a ballroom and have a meal together,” Lasich said.
So, this year, prepackaged meals will be provided by Gella’s Diner, 117 E. 11th, which will be available for pick up in front of the restaurant.
“We are trying to pay attention to all of the best practices,” Lasich said. “Under no circumstance do we want to be the cause of any community spread.”
With meal pick-up running from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., organizers are planning now to ensure everything goes smoothly.
“We are working with the Hays Police Department so that we have a very good traffic control process,” Lasich said.
While being able to continue to provide the meal to those in need is valuable, Lasich also said the gathering in itself has value and is encouraging those who can to gather in other locations, as safely as possible.
“There are some ways for us to do this that also recognizes the importance and need of people to celebrate together,” she said.
To accommodate those groups, they will package meals together allowing one person to pick up meals for the group.
“We are encouraging some creativity on the part of our community to find some ways for people to be able to eat together,” she said.
And for those unable to pick up a meal, First Call for Help will again be offering delivery.
“That delivery is for, elderly, homebound, disabled and — this year — quarantined,” First Call for Help executive director Linda Mills said. “If they can’t leave their house for those reasons, we can deliver a meal to them.”
Because of the drive-through nature of the event and the prepackaged meals, she said they are asking people to sign up now through a website that has been set up to collect the number of meals requested and set pickup times.
“People that want to come and pick up a meal that day, we would appreciate if they sign up,” Mills said. “That will give us an idea about how many and possibly what time they plan on coming.”
Lasich also said they will need to turn in a total number of meals by the first of November and encouraged anyone interested to sign up now.
“We could get more or less than we have done before,” she said. “We are very aware that we will have to make a final decision about a number.”
To sign up, visit signup.com/go/NXaeNyy.
Those requesting a delivery can do so by calling First Call for Help at (785) 623-2800.
. . .
Grocery collection and distribution to accompany free Thanksgiving community meal
Another big part of the annual event is the food drive and distribution, and once again this year, organizers found a way to do so while keeping everyone safe.
“We want to provide some resources that can go with these meals to remind people that they are connected and not alone and that as a community we are together and were going to get through this together,” Lasich said.
Grocery donations will be solicited at Dillons and Walmart the weekend before. What is collected will be sorted and available for pickup at the same time as the meal pickup just down the street at the Community Assistance Center.
“That location was perfect in terms of being able to pull around the block or people could stop there on their way to (Gella’s),” Lasich said.
To coordinate the meal drive through, to help with traffic control and to deliver meals, volunteers are needed.
“The community has been wonderful about stepping up to help with this,” Lasich said. “We have had such incredible community support.”
During a typical year, 100 volunteers are needed.
Anyone interested in helping with the event can call First Call for Help at (785) 623-2800.
Donations are also being accepted and can be sent to the Ellis County Ministerial Alliance, PO Box 173, Hays, KS. Checks can be made out to the Alliance with Thanksgiving in the memo line.
Donations also will be accepted during the meal drop-off and grocery donation locations.