By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — The Claremont Soup Kitchen is holding its annual Thanksgiving Dinner tonight, and Executive Director Cindy Stevens said all are welcome, no questions asked, to come in and enjoy a turkey dinner with all the fixings.
“We will have the typical Thanksgiving with turkey, stuffing, mashed potato, squash, green bean casserole, maple butter carrots, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce,” Stevens said. “Last year we served about 200 people, but we are prepared for even more, with enough food for 300.”
Stevens said Walmart gave a donation for the food and will have employees at the event to help serve. The Common Man is also sending workers over to help with the cause.
“We have a lot of people coming out to help,” Stevens said. “We have our regular volunteers, board members will be here, and there are some kids who come every year to help and serve drinks. We actually probably have more volunteers than we need in that small time window, but everyone loves to come and help.”
Stevens thoroughly enjoys this event because it is a chance to serve those in the community, providing an excellent array of food in a restaurant-style setting. Patrons can come in and find a seat and place their order with a volunteer from the menu who will bring them out a hot plate of delicious food.
“I think it is great seeing all the people who feel welcome and comfortable to come here and have a meal with people they may not know,” she said. “Sometimes they are sitting at a table with someone they don’t know, but there are relationships that can form just by an event like this.”
Throughout this week, the Claremont Soup Kitchen has also been putting together Thanksgiving boxes for those in need. She said just the other day she was speaking with a family who was requesting a box because they are not going to be near most of their extended family.
Stevens said it is important to note that it is not just the Claremont Soup Kitchen working hard to help those in need, as individuals and organizations from all over the city have shown their generosity. Thanks to donors in the community such as the Stevens High School Key Club and Currier Event, the boxes help those who cannot afford to provide for a Thanksgiving feast.
“For Thanksgiving we give out a turkey and the fixings to go with it,” she said. “This year we’ve had a lot of support from the community donate items to the organization for the boxes. The Key Club sells turkeys so they can donate turkeys to us, and they donated about 50.”
Currier Event purchased 100 of each item to be put in the boxes being distributed, which included the Thanksgiving meal staples. She also said there was an anonymous donor who donated $1,000 toward buying an additional 50 turkeys and fixings to distribute.
The Soup Kitchen will also benefit from the Stuff a Truck event at Hannaford, which is sponsored by the Greater Claremont Chamber of Commerce, taking place on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Stevens explained that there are lists for people to go through the store to shop, but some people donate cash or gift cards.
“This is super helpful because we often have people come in next week and need something last minute because something happened and they don’t have money for Thanksgiving,” she said. “So we are able to help with that. These are events that really help.”
But tonight, she said it is the connection they are able to get with their guests that is heartwarming to see. She said regular guests have been talking about how excited they are for the dinner, and the feeling is the same for those serving.
“The connection is amazing here,” she said. “When you see it, everyone is just so comfortable, happy and excited. It’s about all the faces that we see.”
The event takes place from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Claremont Soup Kitchen, located at 53 Central Street. For more information, call 603-543-3290.
