The Sherburne Lions Club has been helping area residents to celebrate Thanksgiving for over 20 years, and this year, I wanted to join in and contribute my time to their cause.
On Thanksgiving Day, I arrived at the United Methodist Church in Sherburne ready to cook and serve a Thanksgiving meal. My experience told me it would be no easy task. Preparing my own Thanksgiving dinners for 10 or 15 people is a lot of work. Preparing the meal for over 100, I thought was going to be a back breaking task.
I was wrong. By the time I arrived in Sherburne, some volunteers had already been there for hours, and while I was eager to help, the majority of the work had been done. I busied myself washing pots and pans as the Lions Members finished cooking with them and we waited for our first diners to arrive.
Not a lot of people came into eat the free meal, but many, many individuals took the Lions up on their offer to deliver meals. The majority of our time was spent packing up “to go” containers with turkey, potatoes, stuffing and all of the other Thanksgiving staples, including a tasty desert.
As our eat-in diners arrived, volunteers made them feel at home, bringing them plates full of food - as much as they could eat - and making sure that they had everything they needed to enjoy their Thanksgiving meal.
Generally the Lions serve 75 to 100 meals at the event, and judging by the number of trips the delivery drivers made, I would guess this year, the number was in that range.
The Lions Club members explained that nearly all of the club members look forward to the event and take part in the day of volunteering. After spending the day with the group, I understand why. I hope to see them all again next Thanksgiving.