Thanksgiving weekend usually finds students boarding planes and trains to go visit relatives. But for those staying in Eugene and feeling orphaned, free dinners in the Whiteaker neighborhood and in Springfield offer a chance to participate in a different sense of family.
Volunteer positions helping to serve the dinners are full, but as Beverly Farfan, the organizer for the 13th Annual Whiteaker Community Dinner said, just sitting and eating with others is highly valued.
“The most important thing,” Farfan said, “is people coming together — community coming together.”
The dinner’s theme, as always, is Neighbors Helping Neighbors. The event, held in the Whiteaker Elementary School at 21 N. Grand St., serves nearly 2,000 people every year. Farfan said food isn’t the only thing offered: Clothing, blankets and sundries are also given to those in need. Toiletries are especially needed, and Farfan suggests that people who want to help bring soap, shampoo or toothpaste. For more information on donations and volunteering, call 485-8179.
Donation or not, anyone is welcome, regardless of need. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A varied cross-section of community members enjoys the meal, said Farfan, and more than 500 volunteers donate their time.
“You might be serving or sitting down to eat next to someone who is homeless,” she said, “or next to someone who has a big house on the south side of town.”
The Whiteaker dinner also draws trained professionals who volunteer their expertise to help the event run smoothly. Ray Sewell, known to Eugene residents as Chez Ray, takes time from running his restaurants to supervise the kitchen. And John Doscher, owner of the private security company Oregon Event Enterprises, donates the company’s services to the Thanksgiving dinner.
This is Doscher’s eighth year at Whiteaker, and he explained that his role is less about security than it is coordinating and offering direction.
“We see a certain group of people all year long and we have to correct their behavior,” Doscher said. “It’s really nice on this one day to give these same people pie and tell them where to get another blanket.”
Sewell got involved with the effort years ago, when people were hosting community dinners in their homes. When the event moved to Whiteaker, he became a celebrity host who keeps the food flowing. Members of his staff join him now, making it a group effort. That sense of community and togetherness is the point, Sewell said, and it brings out the best in people.
“People come out in tears. They feel so blessed by being involved. At the essence of survival is being part of the pack and being accepted,” Sewell said. “The community is never full.”
While not full, the Whiteaker dinner is a huge event, and there’s little room to grow. Farfan said that they have been referring people to the Springfield Community Dinner, held in Willamalane Senior Center at 215 W. C St. Organizer Jennifer Lang said she worked at Whiteaker for many years, and last year she and other members of New Song Christian Fellowship started the Springfield event.
“We wanted to serve members of the community and make them feel loved and warm,” Lang said.
Lang echoes Farfan’s sentiments that the dinner is a community-wide event. A Thanksgiving feast will again be prepared for 500 people, although according to Lang, only 150 attended last year. The church makes the arrangements, but neighbors provide the effort. Local grocery stores and wholesalers, such as Williams Bakery, donate food, and this year Springfield High School students spearheaded the clothing drive and solicited 7,000 pounds of canned food. For more information on volunteering call 744-2604.
The important thing, said the organizers of all these events, is that people eat and spend time with others in their community on Thanksgiving.
“We encourage people to walk around, sit and have dinner,” Farfan said. “People coming together to share compassion, caring and respect for each other is what the holiday is about.”