Preparing a special Thanksgiving Dinner for a few hundred

The crisp air and changing leaves this week aren’t the only signs that Thanksgiving season is almost upon us.  The Ottawa Mission kitchen has also started the planning for our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner.

Preparing a special holiday meal like Thanksgiving dinner takes a lot of extra food and extra work – on top of the effort it takes to serve an average of 1295 meals to people in need every day of the year.  It’s estimated about 2700 plates of turkey (and all the fixings) will be served up during the five hour afternoon event on the Thanksgiving Monday.

At the center of this special meal, of course, is delicious roasted turkey.  Chef Ric Watson heads up the team of volunteers and staff members who will debone, cook and carve about 90 large turkeys, or an estimated 2300 lbs of turkey, during the entire week before the big dinner.

You may wonder where all that turkey comes from.

Every fall, The Ottawa Mission asks for community donations of large frozen turkeys and every year, generous people like you come forward to help.

If you would like to contribute a Thanksgiving turkey for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner, donations can be dropped off anytime at The Ottawa Mission Front Desk, located at 35 Waller Street.

Your gift will bring food to the hungry and hope to many people – and The Ottawa Mission is very thankful for that.