A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Bob Francisco was one of many volunteers who helped make free Thanksgiving meals for anyone who wanted one.
Kitchen volunteers got in Thursday long before the many volunteers who were tasked with serving and putting together meals for 900 people at the Cloquet VFW on Thanksgiving.
The Carlton County DAV set a record with this year's community Thanksgiving: 900 meals served. And they did it in half the space they usually have.
Because the kitchen and dining hall at Zion Lutheran Church weren't available due to the pandemic, the Disabled American Veterans volunteers consolidated operations at the Cloquet VFW. "It was definitely congested, to say the least," said the DAV's Raffy Johnson, who has spearheaded the event since the DAV took over five years ago.
They had people working everywhere: the kitchen, the dining hall, even the bar, said volunteer and DAV member Rich Ekholm, forming assembly lines to make up meals. In addition to the many faithful volunteers, members of two local Bantam hockey teams showed up.
"We must have had 30 hockey volunteers between the kids and the parents," Johnson said. "It was great, they saved the day for sure. We don't normally see a lot of young volunteers. It was nice to get a pile."
They delivered countywide, including bringing 40 meals to two senior apartment buildings in Moose Lake and, in Cloquet, around 70 meals to Larson Commons and 50 to Aspen Arms.
"I feel proud that this organization, the disabled vets, can take over such a big task," Johnson said, noting that the DAV is also taking the lead on the Christmas dinner later this month. "The support we have from our members is pretty overwhelming. We are the fastest-growing county [organization] in the country for the last five years running."
