Zion's 30th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner

Update: As Thanksgiving Day draws near, we have several preparation dates and needs:

Turkey Fry Day - Saturday, Nov.  18, is Fry-Day for Thanksgiving Turkeys.  Our team of cooks again will deep fry our THAWED turkeys.  We also need volunteers on Saturday  to carve the cooked turkeys.   The first batch of cooked and cooled turkeys should be ready to carve around 10 a.m.  We will be cooking all day until around 4.  If you have any spare time on Saturday, join us for a while in the fellowship hall.  Bring your favorite knife and we also have electric ones available.  (Nano & Nana's Rigatoni will be served for lunch).  

Setting Up the Hall:  We need help on Wednesday, Nov. 22, to set up the fellowship hall, slice the ham and bag rols.  Work will start at 3 p.m.  We also need delivery drivers for Thursday morning Thanksgiving Day).  Sign-up sheets will be in the fellowship hall.

Donations Needed:  Monetary donations are helpful and can be given electronically through Zion’s donation website via the Giving tab. Checks can be written to Zion’s Lutheran with a note in the memo line “Thanksgiving” and mailed to the church or placed in the offering plate. Time and food donations also are needed. Please reach out to Norine Hazen to volunteer time, to make an in-kind donation, or to request someone to pick up your monetary donation. 

Do You or Someone You Know Need Meals: If you would like to have Thanksgiving dinner with us, come to the Fellowship Hall any time after noon to dine in. You also can order meals for curbside pick up by calling the church at (719) 846-7785 (if you call before Thursday, please leave a message with your name, number of meals needed, and your preferred time for pick up. We also can deliver meals to you (not to exceed 5 meals per address). Please call the church and provide your name, address, number of meals needed, and your phone number (so that we can follow up with you if we have questions). You also can call Norine Hazen at the number listed below to provide that information or to volunteer to help.

For more details about our annual coimmunity dinner, read the article below...

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For the past 30 years, Zion’s Lutheran Church has been host to Trinidad’s Community Thanksgiving Day Dinner, free of charge. In the early days of what has become and treasured tradition, Zion’s focused upon ensuring that college students who did not go home for Thanksgiving were able to enjoy a traditional meal on Thanksgiving Day.

As the years passed, Zion’s drew upon it’s “all are welcome tradition” and invited everyone in the community to join in. This included, not only people who didn’t want to cook a big meal to people who were alone for the holiday, as well as those unable to afford a traditional holiday meal, or who are homeless. When it became evident that some people could not dine in person due to health or other limitations, then Zion’s pickup and delivery options began. Deliveries were an offshoot of the congregation’s 5-Loaves lunch delivery program and were welcomed by many.

As in the past, meal preparation and service require commitment from the members of Zion’s as well as from community volunteers. This time-honored tradition would not be possible without the contributions of time, talent, food, and funds.

As Zion’s welcoming message and dinner outreach continued so did the number of meals provided. While dine-in meals were not possible during Covid restrictions, Zion’s still offered more than 600 meals by delivery and curbside pickup. By 2022, volunteers served and delivered almost 900 meals, braving snowy weather to do so, and providing warm hospitality to those who braved the weather to dine in person. Thanksgiving Day 2023 will be no exception. Dinner will include traditional Thanksgiving fare and will provide an opportunity for people to gather as a community to share food and fellowship.

The Thanksgiving team, headed by Norine Hazen, will work closely with area businesses, including Safeway which again this year generously will collect “turkey bucks” to provide a Thanksgiving grant to Zion’s. However, food donations, cooks, delivery drivers, servers and monetary donations are needed. If you can help, please let Norine (719-680-1292) or Jo Moss know, or leave a message on Zion’s voicemail or via email. In this time of giving, we are grateful for the generosity and kindness of so many.