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Largest crowd ever attends Community Dinner

By Staff | Dec 3, 2008

mtoadvine@breezenewspapers.com

Mike Buff said he wasn’t surprised at the big turn out at the annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner held at St. Raphael’s Church on Lee Blvd.

“We planned to cook much more this year than we have in previous years,” Buff said. “The reason is because there are so many people in Lehigh who are having hard times due to the economy. The dinner is a gift to the community and we wanted a big turnout.”

Last year, a little more than 400 people turned out for the Thanksgiving feast. This year, the number was 526, about a hundred people more than in 2007.

Cooking began on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. The large parish hall was prepared with tablecloths on the tables and decorations throughout. Children folded paper napkins and inserted the plastic fork, knife and spoon inside.

“We’re doing about 500 napkins,” said Nash Baker, 11. Also helping him mid-day was Mahmoud Aryan, 14, both of Lehigh Acres.

The big kitchen at St. Raphael’s is the ideal place to cook the dinner and the parish hall, which is also used for Bingo, is large enough to hold large crowds.

“We began serving at around 11:15 a.m. Thursday,” Buff said. “The people were standing in line to come in.”

The dinner has been free for the past nine years and Buff says the Rotary Club plans to continue this tradition in Lehigh. Those who wish to donate something can do so by dropping money or checks into a wishing well in the lobby of the parish hall, but Buff noted that only those who felt they could afford it should donate.

“We haven’t counted up the money just yet and what our expenses were, but what we have left will go toward the Community Christmas Dinner which will be held on Dec. 25 with serving beginning at 11:15. a.m.,” Buff said.

The same people, and perhaps some others, will begin cooking on Christmas Eve and again, Buff said they expect a large crowd.

Last year, the crowd on Christmas Day wasn’t as large as on Thanksgiving Day but Buff said they will be ready to serve everyone who attends.

He said there were around 70 volunteers who helped out to make this year’s Thanksgiving Dinner a success.

“They did everything from serving on the food line to bringing people desserts,” Buff said.

“We had a lot of families, a lot of older people and just a great crowd. The people seemed to enjoy themselves, too.

We really do appreciate those who donated money because it will help to pay for the Christmas Dinner, but again, that dinner is free to everyone, too,” Buff said.