The sounds of happiness and fellowship will return to Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church on Thanksgiving Day, November 24.
The Care and Share Thanksgiving Meal will once again be offered at Royal Redeemer. For the past two years, volunteers delivered a meal to those who wanted one. Because of COVID, no one came to the church for fellowship.
It’s another sign, maybe the biggest one, that life is returning to normal in North Royalton.
“We are thrilled to share that in our 33rd year, the Care and Share Thanksgiving Day meal will once again be offered onsite at Royal Redeemer Lutheran Church,” shares Senior Pastor John Zahrte. “We had to alter the way we carried out the event for the past two years, and after prayerful consideration, we decided it was time to return to an in-person gathering.”
Care and Share Head Lisa Martin agrees. “I am so excited to have people back. I feel like it’s the core of what we want to do which is to make sure that people are not alone on Thanksgiving. I’m so excited to have this opportunity once again to serve people at the church on Thanksgiving Day.”
While COVID changed the way Care and Share looked for two years, Martin said there are some things they learned through that ordeal.
“Our cooking process is completely different thanks to COVID as strange as that sounds. Our primary purpose is to help shut-ins if we are doing delivery. All of the folks we deliver to have a way to re-heat their meals. So we had all the meals prepared on Wednesday night. If you are coming to the Church on Thanksgiving Day, the meals will be served hot and fresh.”
Martin anticipates serving about 200 people at Royal Redeemer Church on Thanksgiving Day and deliver about 1,200 meals. “That’s about 1,500 meals. That’s our limit. Our outreach covers North Royalton, Strongsville, Parma, Brunswick and Hinckley.”
The number of people who give of their time to either prepare the meals or help to serve the meals at the Church are, in Martin’s words “so amazing.” She said, “We don’t struggle with that. God truly provides when it comes to our volunteers. It’s something I don’t have to worry about.” Those volunteers include students at the Royal Redeemer School who prepare placemats, cards and other items.
If You Want to Volunteer: Martin says everything is handled on line. As of November 1, potential volunteers can sign up by going to www.royred.org.
If You want a Meal at the Church: Martin says serving times at the Church are between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. If you want a meal at the Church, just show up.
If You Want a Delivered Meal: Meals will be delivered between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day. To reserve a delivered meal, sign up at www.royred.org beginning on November 1.
Pastor Zahrte notes, “We are incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ in this tangible way with our community.”

By JOE JASTRZEMSKI
Contributing Writer