As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families and friends, it’s time to bring out those tried-and-true recipes – those special salads, casseroles, and desserts – that must be on the holiday table every year. We also look forward to sampling new dishes.
At St. Vincent de Paul, we’re ready to put our tried-and-true recipes together, but we’re also preparing to respond to a growing need in our area because of the economy.
On November 23rd, Thanksgiving Day, we will continue our tradition of serving the annual Thanksgiving meal at the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Room and the Raising Cane’s River Center. We will also serve at St. Gerard and the McKinley Alumni Center. We continue to expand our reach to the most vulnerable during these inflationary times. What a blessing it is to be a part of this community effort, which has touched the lives of the needy for the past 41 years.
We serve meals at many locations to ensure that we provide maximum coverage of our community on this special day. For individuals who have no families to share this special day with and have no financial resources for a traditional Thanksgiving meal, we will be there for them. For the homeless who live at our St. Vincent de Paul shelters, for others who live near our main charitable campus or in north or south Baton Rouge, we will be there for them.
We thank the Pennington family for their many years of support! We thank Mayor-President Sharon Westin Broome, Wayne Hodes, Chef Craig Bergeron, and the entire crew at the Raising Cane’s River Center. We also thank the Louisiana Housing Corporation for joining us for this year’s event to celebrate Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. We thank all of our partners: the City of Baton Rouge, Raising Cane's River Center, Pennington Family Foundation, The Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Housing Corporation, McKinley Alumni Center, St. Gerard, Lillie’s Kitchen, and Baker Donelson. These leaders are once again playing a critical role in reaching people who truly need a helping hand this holiday season
Turkey is the main dish at every Thanksgiving meal, and we thank The Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge for doing their annual Turkey Train! They collect enough turkeys to ensure that we can continue this Thanksgiving tradition. Annually, this wonderful congregation is the single largest contributor of turkeys for our Thanksgiving meal service to those experiencing poverty. Their help is even more critical this year because of the difficult economy.
At St. Vincent de Paul, the most critical ingredient in our Thanksgiving recipe is you – our supporters. Our guests are so grateful for the meals you make possible. During these difficult times, we are all called to share God’s blessings with the less fortunate.
First and foremost, we ask you to join us in praying for those we are blessed to serve. By the end of this year, we will serve over 260,000 meals, so your support is needed as we combat hunger in our area. For a gift of just $1.00, you can help us provide a hot, nutritious meal. $100 provides a hundred meals, and $400 typically feeds all the guests at our dining room on any given day.
You can make your gift online by clicking here.
We wish everyone a happy, wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! Thank you for your support in helping us to make a difference in our community.