Myrtle Creek holds community Thanksgiving dinner

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Story Published: Nov 26, 2009 at 10:01 PM PST

By KPIC Staff

MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. - About 300 people took advantage of a free Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, at the Myrtle Creek Community Center.

The dinner was hosted for the sixth consecutive year, by the Harvest Christian Assembly, and dozens of volunteers from the community came out to help put on the event.

The dinner is a traditional turkey, mashed potatoes,gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and all the trimmings. Mike O'Sullivan of the Harvest Christian Assembly said last year they served about 250, but they expected more this year.

"People come mostly from Myrtle Creek, Tri City, and Canyonville, but we had a lot of foot traffic, people just passing by and walked in to see what was going on," said O'Sullivan. "The dinner is for anyone, we want anyone to come who wants to, and there'll be plenty of food," he added.

O'Sullivan said the holiday tradition is part of H.C.A.'s outreach to the local community. Volunteers from H.C.A. and other groups helped staff the dinner, working in shifts serving the meals, and cleaning up afterwords.

Volunteers also delivered meals to shut-ins, and they gave rides to and from the dinner for those who needed a lift.

The city does not charge them for the use of the Community Center, and most of the food is donated.

"Our motto is that no one should be alone for the holidays," said O'Sullivan.

O'Sullivan said he is always amazed that a community that has been hit so hard by the down economy and unemployment, can still be so giving when it comes to helping their fellow citizens in tough times.

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