St. Michael Catholic Church to host inaugural Thanksgiving dinner

Prior Lake American

The St. Michael Catholic Church in Prior Lake will host a community Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 22 for those who don’t or can’t have a dinner of their own.

The dinner will be the first the church has hosted in recent history.

“This meal is for anyone that doesn’t have somewhere to go on Thanksgiving or doesn’t have someone to share a Thanksgiving meal with,” St. Michael Catholic Church and School Communication and Marketing Director Ashley Greywitt said. “We hope to be flexible and make it a wonderful celebration for everyone.”

The idea to host the dinner came from a parishioner in the church who volunteers in the kitchen, Pastoral Care Minister MaryPat Potts said.

“We thought that there is no reason for people to be alone on Thanksgiving or not to have a decent meal,” Potts said. “That’s kind of what we’re going for.”

The church is planning for up to 250 people to attend the dinner, which will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day at St. Michael Catholic Church in Prior Lake.

“We want it to feel like a community dinner, like a fellowship — people sharing a meal together,” Potts said.

Potts said while she hopes the dinner will be available to people in need, she doesn’t want to limit who partakes in the meal or label those who come as needy.

After the dinner was announced, people signed up to volunteer and donations began to roll in. The Hy-Vee in Savage donated $100, while Ferndale Farms in Cannon Falls donated turkeys.

“We really would like to feed 250 people,” Potts said. “We just really need help getting the word out.”

Potts said a personal invitation to someone who could be in need of the dinner can “make the difference” and encourage people to go.

“We just don’t know what to expect,” Potts said. “I hope the people will enjoy the spirit of the community gathering around the meal.”

Donations for the dinner will be accepted until Nov. 21 and can be dropped off at the parish office or arranged by calling 952-447-2491. Reservations for the dinner are encouraged but not required and can be made by calling the same number.

The cost of the dinner is free, but there will be an option to donate at the meal. Funds will go toward offsetting the cost of providing the dinner, with the remaining portion going to the Families and Individuals Sharing Hope Partner Network, which works to coordinate several nonprofit and charity programs in the area and help them improve.

“We just didn’t want people to feel like they were alone,” Potts said.