Care and Share at Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church had humble beginnings back in 1989. A group of volunteers served 100 Thanksgiving dinners.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving Day 2019, 1,600 Thanksgiving dinners, 400-500 served inside the church and 1,200 more dinners delivered to shut-ins or given to individuals who wanted to enjoy their dinners at home. Can you imagine cooking 108 turkey breasts and fourteen 20-pound turkeys for those who wanted dark meat? That amounts to 900 pounds of meat. Add to that mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and stuffing! We haven’t even gotten to the pies and beverages. It’s truly is a community effort.
Lisa Martin, who puts the Care and Share event together, says, “We are blessed to have so many volunteers every year.”
Volunteers like Michelle Smith – for the past 15 years Michelle has given her time on Thanksgiving and the days before to Care and Share. I talked with Michelle and her daughter Megan the day before Thanksgiving. “I wanted to help people on Thanksgiving and to get my children involved. It works out perfectly.” Michelle was setting the tables as she told me “Care and Share is more than food and a Thanksgiving meal. It’s about fellowship. We do so many little things that mean a lot.” Megan attends Ohio State and, even with finals week coming up, came back home to help out.
Volunteers like Steve White – he helps out at Care and Share “to help people that don’t have somewhere to go on Thanksgiving Day to have somewhere to go.” Steve has been volunteering for the past five years. Steve says, “This (Care and Share) is not about the volunteers.
Volunteers like Jeff Pan, or “Island Jeff” as he is known in these parts. For the past 21 years, Jeff sits behind the piano and plays Christmas music for those partaking in food and fellowship. “This is a good thing. We have become so jaded in our thinking nowadays. This is so wonderfully refreshing. Most people here love live music and it’s given as my gift.”
Frank Boulton, who is involved in the Youth Ministry at Royal Redeemer, led the volunteers and those who came early for Thanksgiving dinner in a prayer before getting started. “I am uplifted by the generosity of our volunteers. They are a great example of bringing Gods word into action. They have a smile on their face when they are serving and are willing to make the smallest sacrifice.”
Those who came to dinner at Royal Redeemer were here for a variety of reasons. “Kathy” came because ‘my children are scattered about the country and I wanted to be around other people on Thanksgiving.”
It was the first time Randy Cutshaw came to the Care and Share Thanksgiving Dinner. “I hope to have some good fellowship at dinner. Hopefully to meet and make new friends. I heard about Care and Share and decided to come.”
Another man who lost his parents in the past year came to Royal Redeemer to be around others and to celebrate the holiday.
Jeremy Bryant and his daughter Kaitlyn also volunteer at Care and Share. “I feel this is my way to give back to the community,” said Jeremy. When I asked Jeremy about missing an entire day of NFL Football, he told me ‘That’s why DVRs were invented.”
If you want to volunteer, either to serve meals at the church, or to deliver meals to shut-ins for next Thanksgiving, contact Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church at 440.237.7958.
By JOE JASTRZEMSKI
Contributing Writer