About 2,500 people across Schuylkill County received free Thanksgiving meals on Thursday thanks to a tradition in Pottsville that marked its 20th anniversary this year.
Volunteers with the Schuylkill County Knights of Columbus began preparing the meals of turkey, stuffing and gravy, corn, yams, cranberry sauce, and a brownie late last night.
This morning, they were joined by a couple hundred more volunteers who helped assemble the meals and get them ready for delivery. Volunteers line up around 8 a.m. and in assembly line fashion, start moving from station to station as servers fill their plates.
The plates are then bagged and boxed and off to their destination.
This year was a record number of meals for Knights of Columbus, according to Grand Knight Mike McFadden.
To put that total into perspective, in its first year – when the organization worked with the owners of the former Pottsville Eatery restaurant – 135 meals were prepared.
“It’s growing every year,” KoC Thanksgiving Coordinator Ron Whalen says.
Whalen is thankful for all the volunteers who help the organization pull off the monumental task of getting meals to those in need or those who don’t have anyone else to spend time with on Thanksgiving.
“We’ve got a variety of people from the area that contribute their time on Thanksgiving Day to help feed other people that are in need,” Whalen adds.
Back in the kitchen, Greg Wagner leads the cooking effort that starts the night before Thanksgiving and goes through the night.
This year, Wagner says, the Knights of Columbus teamed up with Schuylkill Technology Center Culinary Arts students – led by instructor Greg Lieberman – who helped slice hundreds of pounds of turkey ahead of Thursday’s service.
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