The Whiteaker Community Dinner will return for its 31st year this Thanksgiving. The free event provides food, services and winter clothes for anyone who wants them, all for free. The dinner will take place on Thanksgiving from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Whiteaker Community Head Start Center.
Thanksgiving dinner will be a feast. Beverly Farfan, lead coordinator for WCD, said the organization is preparing to serve 500 pounds of yams, 300 pounds of tofu, more than 200 pies and nearly a ton of turkey.
Though the event is branded as a dinner, Farfan said services this year will include live music, flu shots, children’s activities and a “barking lot” for people with animals. Further, WCD will be giving away 300 sleeping bags, 1,000 socks and hats and thousands of pounds of other winter clothing.
It takes a small army of volunteers to execute a free event of this size. Farfan credited about 25 volunteers who attend planning meetings and are preparing to head various parts of the volunteer corps. Those organizers will lead over 500 volunteers who work in two hour shifts on the day of the event. Another 100 volunteers will spend the days leading up to Thanksgiving sorting through donations and preparing the giveaway.
The Lane Community College Culinary Arts Program will prepare most of the food in the week leading up to the event and volunteer Thanksgiving Day to warm the food and make sure the kitchen is kept to health board standards. MLK Culinary Arts, a youth education program, will prepare all the mashed potatoes.
Donations make the WCD possible. Farfan estimated that WCD donations are about 5% corporate and 95% from community members. She recalled a donation in a past year when a person came and said, “I have two coats, so I’d like to donate one. I don’t need two coats.” This embodies the WCD slogan of “Neighbors Helping Neighbors,” Farfan said.
The first WCD was in 1978, according to the event’s website. A local woman held a free Thanksgiving dinner for community members as a thank you for supporting her through dire straits a few years prior. The event continued annually before going on hiatus until 1988. Since 1988, WCD has been in operation yearly. In 1996, WCD registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Over the years, the event has grown to serve more than 2,200 people per year, according to Food for Lane County.
Related: Daily Emerald: Whiteaker Community Dinner 2011
After 24 years of volunteering, Farfan said she hasn’t lost her passion for the event. “Every single person who comes, whether they’re a guest, a volunteer or a guest-volunteer, they’re part of the picture that makes this such a special event,” Farfan said.
Giveaways start at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving and dinner is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
