A volunteer serves pie to one of the guests at the community Thanksgiving. Photo by Marion Vendituoli

About 20 volunteers from the Corner Scoop, the Wellness Center and the Vine Church put a free dinner together at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds on Thanksgiving Day. 

Between 12 and 4pm over 150 people were served, including families, single people, the Border Patrol swing shift and some of the military personnel who work at the Sonoita BP station. Dinners were also delivered to the Elgin Sonoita Fire Department, the Dollar General Store and the corner Shell Station. 

“It was amazing to see so many families and a lot of single people come in to enjoy a hot Thanksgiving dinner with friends and the community,” said Dena Ploetz, who began planning and coordinating this special event eight months ago. “Some of the volunteer cooks and servers had lost a husband or wife in the last year and didn’t want to be alone on this day. The whole afternoon was about bringing people together.”

Nine turkeys, three roast beefs and four hams, all donated, were cooked on site, along with all the trimmings. One anonymous person donated $500 and Vera Earl donated the roast beef. Three turkeys and two roast beefs were reserved to be given away before Christmas. 

Ploetz hopes to make the Community Thanksgiving Dinner an annual event. “I don’t want anyone to be alone for Thanksgiving,” she said.

Guests at the Thanksgiving dinner had a choice of turkey, ham or roast beef, as well as all the fixings, all donated by members of the community. Photo by Marion Vendituoli

In other news, Ploetz, the founder and driving force behind Helping Hands Sonoita, met with its board early Thanksgiving morning and decided to give a new name to the organization. It is now called Restoring Hope Alliance. There were too many other Helping Hands, including one in Tucson. 

Ploetz and Executive Director Daniel Blevins want the community to know that until the refrigeration/freezer system is installed at the Food Pantry next to the Corner Scoop, people can pick up meat, eggs, and milk at the new Wellness Center, located at the Coop. 

There has been an increase in the number of people patronizing the Food Pantry since its opening in the new location. Food donations and produce are welcome. 

“One of our goals is to reduce food waste,” Blevins said. “If you have spare produce, we will find a use for it.”