01/12/2024
It has suddenly turned into winter! We love the cold, because EVERYBODY looks fat in a parka!
But before we settle in to the cold and dark of the winter solstice, here is a little wrap-up of the 2024 When Pigs Fly Day of Giving Back, Free Community Thanksgiving Dinner:
We served a total of 933 meals. Of that total, 604 were either carry-out or delivery to shut-ins. A little over 300 folks joined us in the dining room for thanksgiving and fellowship, and we had a ball. We haven't yet counted up the number of volunteers, but we're going to have to get a bigger sign-up poster because we ran out of room on the one we had.
We had planned for possibly 1,000 meals, so we didn't run out of anything this year. In fact, we had a little bit of leftovers, which is perfect planning, as far as we’re concerned... Unserved food has already been distributed to the Senior Center, Childrens Home Society, and the Family Refuge Center. A little bit of unopened food went to the Lewisburg Food Bank. We had a great cleanup crew come out on Friday morning, and we hauled the last of our equipment home today (Saturday), leaving the space at the fairgrounds all ship shape.
We cooked 750 pounds of turkey, 250 pounds of white potatoes, 200 pounds of sweet potatoes, 40 #10 cans of green beans, 30 #10 cans of corn, 1000 homemade dinner rolls from Blue Moon bakery, 15 gallons of fresh pressed cider from Cowboy’s Produce, and on and on.
One volunteer calculated that we served an average of 4.5 plates per minute during the afternoon hours.
Things went particularly smoothly this year, and we are beyond grateful to the many donors and volunteers without whom this event could not have happened. One volunteer driver wrote:
“Watching the folks waiting in line for takeout, picking up deliveries and all the volunteers putting this together for them, and also looking into the dining room and seeing the people eating and volunteer servers that are friends of ours, all carried a very positive vibe, with an almost jovial atmosphere. Folks were talking with each other and were happy, patient, and cooperative to make this all happen. There was help putting the delivery meals in our car, with our own meals included, it just all went nicely.
While different, the deliveries were frequently as positive, and nothing negative. There was a comment from [a person] at the Shell station that said she had never done this before but she heard the food was wonderful. The meals were for her and her son, and 2 coworkers and they were all quite excited. Was fun and felt positive to see folks find a way to celebrate, even though they had to work. “
It's the fellowship, camaraderie and shared feeling of gratefulness that makes our hearts sing.
The list of donors is too long for a facebook post, but you can just click here: https://www.pigsflybbq.com/2024-donors-list. Please let these folks know that they are noticed and appreciated.
Thanks again! We had a blast!!
Kellen and Mike
(If you want to try to count the number of volunteers, please post your total in the comments below).