MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Wesley United Methodist Church and Chili’s Restaurant hosted the 13th Free Thanksgiving Community Dinner in Morgantown.

Volunteers cooked 40 turkeys and used a production line to fill take-out dinners with traditional Thanksgiving foods. Turkey, ham, mash and sweet potatoes, beans, corn and pie were some of the tasty foods on offer this year.

Several community organizations have placed pickup orders, including the Friendship House recovery program.

“I can’t say how grateful I am for this community spirit that we have here and this huge effort for this church because that’s it for Thanksgiving, for the people on the streets or for the people going through times. difficult, ”said Alice Meehan. , volunteer for the Maison de l’Amitié,

Karen Kelley King, Thanksgiving Dinner Coordinator, said: “We had two goals when we started this in 2008. One, that it be a community effort and not just Wesley Church, and the second was that we be financially independent. So again, we are collecting our own money so that we don’t want to be a burden on this church. “

King said last year’s dinner was canceled due to COVID. This year’s event has been reduced to take and deliver for safety reasons. But she’s hoping that next year things will get back to normal and they can have a nice sit-down dinner together as a community.