Sometimes just being able to carry on is enough to be thankful for.
Undaunted by the difficulties and restrictions brought on by COVID-19, the Port Angeles Salvation Army forged ahead with their traditional day-before-Thanksgiving lunch on Nov. 25, passing out more than 100 meals at the door for consumption in the parking lot or elsewhere.
Major Barbara Wehnau said she was grateful the Salvation Army could provide a meal for those in need.
“God provides what we need to help others.” she said. “Without God and without our community, we couldn’t do this.”
A staff of cooks were working that morning to prepare a traditional dinner, or as traditional as possible, for carry-out service in clam-shell service containers.
With a menu of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, dinner rolls and dessert, the kitchen was busy with the clatter of pans and the aromas of the season.
Volunteers Linda and Doug Crabb of Sequim stir pots of gravy in the Salvation Army food kitchen on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Major Ron Wehnau took time to provide taste samples of the main dish, taking delight in his selection of herbs and spices.
Barbara Wehnau said she was always grateful for the work of volunteer cooks and servers.
“I think people forget sometimes how many people help us accomplish it,” she said. “Between the volunteers who come in and work and those who make donations, it couldn’t happen without them.”
Volunteer Phyllis Meyer of Sequim said her three days each week to help with Salvation Army food service was an extension of her years of feeding her family and the satisfaction she received from helping others.
“I’m thankful for the Salvation Army to let me work here, with all the good they do.” she said.
“I just like helping people, I’ve always liked helping people and I’m glad that I’m able to.”
Koreena Hawkins of Port Angeles slices pies in preparation for the Nov. 25 carry-out lunch at the Salvation Army in Port Angeles. Photo by Keith Thorpe/Olympic Peninsula News Group
The lunch was a precursor to a pair of carry-out meals scheduled for Thanksgiving Day on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Because COVID-19 precautions, there were no sit-down get-togethers, though Hardy’s Market in Sequim and the TriArea Community Center in Chimacum had planned on boxing several hundred Thanksgiving dinners.
Instead of hosting a sit-down community meal this Thanksgiving, Serenity house is cooking for clients and sending holiday meal packages out to the homeless in the area, working through the ReDiscovery program and others.
Several meals offered in past years did not happen this year; among them, Trinity United Methodist Church and Sunshine Cafe in Sequim, Queen of Angels in Port Angeles and St. Paul’s in Port Townsend.
