All volunteers for Thanksgiving need to sign-up online through our volunteer form.
Click here to volunteer!
Thanksgiving 2011
At the Downtown Rescue Mission we know how lonely the holidays can be, especially for those who are alone and without any family or those who don’t have or can’t prepare a Thanksgiving meal. For the past several years, the needs of those who use our ministry have quickly risen. More people are coming to us now for our programs and services than ever before. Nevertheless, we estimate our communities’ needs this Thanksgiving to be higher than previous years. We are asking area businesses, churches, families and organizations to help us provide this Thanksgiving to those who would otherwise go without. We will need 1,000 frozen turkeys and all the fixings (canned corn, cranberry sauce, green beans and yams, instant mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and stuffing, gravy packets and rolls) to provide for each of the people coming to our ministry for help.
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, area volunteers consisting of youth groups, organizations and families arrive at the Mission at 6:00 p.m. to help load turkey boxes that will be given out to those who have previously signed-up and cannot afford to purchase a Thanksgiving meal of their own.
On the following Monday and Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. the Turkey boxes will be distributed but only after recipients have had the Gospel presented to them in our Darwin “Doc” Overholt Chapel. We gave away 650 boxes in 2010 and had a waiting list. This year we expect to give away 800 or more boxes to needy families.
The Great Thanksgiving Banquet and Thanksgiving Day Meal
Since 1996 the Downtown Rescue Mission has hosted a Great Thanksgiving Banquet on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as well as a Thanksgiving Day meal. Last year alone we had a record breaking 800+ volunteers on hand to help with the annual event at our new campus!
This event has increasingly been a successful attempt to reach out to the city’s forgotten population by providing them with Gospel entertainment and a three-course turkey meal on tables decorated for the occasion. It also provides an opportunity for Huntsville area residents who have been blessed with many things to share their plenty with those who have very little.
We generally serve about 1,200 banquet-style meals (in 2010 we served 1,248) on both Wednesday and Thursday. Our attendees consist of women with children, men and women living on the streets and in parks, homeless veterans and others with special needs. Guests enjoy the homey, compassionate, restaurant-style atmosphere where they are served and taken care of by volunteers. The next banquet is set for Wednesday and Thursday November 24-25, 2011.
One way you may support this event is by giving financially to feed hungry and homeless Tennessee Valley people. If you are able to sponsor a table for $500 – $1,000, please call our Senior Director of Development, Ted Bullock, at (256) 536-2441 ext. 329. Another way to help is by donating food for a complete Thanksgiving meal. You may also volunteer, though space is limited and groups normally sign up to volunteer for this event far in advance.
This year, all Thanksgiving volunteering sign-up will take place online from our volunteer form. If you have previously submitted a volunteer form, you will need to submit another form. Thank you for wanting to be a part of our ministry and serve forgotten, overlooked and hungry people!
