Shepherd’s Table Prepares for Thanksgiving Dinner

It's almost Thanksgiving, and meal preparations at Shepherd's Table are well underway. As in most kitchens there's turkey in the oven, but here they're in multiples, with eight roasting at a time. A truckload of donated birds arrived just today, along with 90 bags of potatoes, carrots, canned green beans and dozens of loaves of bread for stuffing.

Kitchen staff and volunteers at Shepherd's Table have been preparing the donated turkeys, side dishes and desserts all week in preparation for Thursday's big holiday meal. The Silver Spring facility – which provides daily dinner and other services for the needy –  expects 130 people for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

They're used to feeding that many people daily, and more, says Office Manager Haile Gebregziabher. The facility has been serving dinner to homeless and other people in need every evening for 27 years, "and we've never missed a single night," said Gebregziabher. "We feed as many as 150 people every evening."

With the down economy, the need for help has not changed much since last year; but the number of overall donations overall has gone down, Gebregziabher said. "We are getting fewer donations." Despite this he said they've made no cutbacks in meals and other free services they provide. "There's been no change to clients whatsoever — they can still walk in anytime."

Food donations for the Thanksgiving and the holiday season, however, remain strong. Area businesses, churches, synagogues, offices and schools conduct yearly holiday food drives for the shelter, according to Gebregziabher. "We get more donations Thanksgiving to Christmas than any other time."

Although holidays donations remain plentiful, they need more donations the rest of the year. "We have needs here 24/7… people are in need of food 365 days a year," Gebregziabher said, adding that whatever donated food is not used for the holiday will be used for other meals.

Volunteers are also always needed. "We could not operate with volunteers," Gebregziabher said. He said the facility has more than 1,000 volunteers each year.

For Thanksgiving, a "special group" of volunteers come in to serve, said Gebregziabher. They're individual community members who make it a point to return each year just to serve Thanksgiving dinner. The volunteers do everything from setting up tables and preparing coffee to dishing out meals on plates.

Although they already have enough volunteers for Thanksgiving, volunteers are needed year round. If you'd like to volunteer, Gebregziabher said "just call."

Shepard's Table is open seven days a week. In addition to meals, from March to October the homeless can receive shelter. Other services, including showers, toiletries, washing machines and a free clothes "closet," and a mailing address homeless clients can use are provided as well. Food, clothing, toiletries and monetary donations are welcomed.

For more information, visit www.shepherdstable.org