Meals were distributed to the Allied Churches of Alamance County and The First Baptist Church on Apple Street on Thanksgiving.
On Nov. 20, the Monday before Thanksgiving, the Elon Aramark Dining Services gathered in the Lakeside Dining Hall Kitchen with the common goal of giving back this holiday season.
They prepared more than 1,000 meals for the even distribution between two local organizations:
- The Allied Churches of Alamance County, which functions as an emergency shelter, resource day center, community kitchen, and food pantry to provide services for the hungry and homeless in the local community.
- The First Baptist Church on Apple Street, which offers similar services to school, partnerships, resource agencies, and other mission organizations.
After a day of hard work and cooking, the dining trucks were loaded and the food was heated and served to both organizations to give a real Thanksgiving meal to those who needed it most.
Casey Claflin, digital media marketer for Elon Dining, helped deliver the meals to the organizations prior to the event. “It was my first time witnessing this event, but I was struck by the relationships that had built up over the years between our staff at Elon Dining and the organizations,” she said. “I thought it was very cool that the same people had been involved in this event for years now.”
The organizations both enjoyed a feast of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, rolls and cookies prepared by Elon Dining Service staff. One Aramark manager, Anton Downey, was impressed by how many volunteers showed up to serve meals, sacrificing part of their own Thanksgiving Day to take part in the event.
It is truly powerful to watch the pleasure of those serving to others, rather than indulging in their own Thanksgiving meal. The true meaning of Thanksgiving was witnessed that day.
Elon Dining supports Allied Churches throughout the year in partnership with Campus Kitchen out of the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement. Elon Dining donates protein and grains and allows Campus Kitchen’s student volunteers to use the Lakeside Dining Hall kitchen each week to prepare 150 meals that go to Allied Churches.
In addition to weekly cooking shifts, Campus Kitchen also has farm shifts, delivery shifts and an education and nutrition team that do outreach to campus and the community. To get involved and/or to learn about more about Campus Kitchen, please visit the Campus Kitchen website.
Click here to see the video of the event in action.