As Thanksgiving quickly approaches, Lewis Family McDonald’s begins its preparations for their annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner. The dinner, started in 1989 by the Chester Carey Family, is now in its tenth year. The dinner will be held on Thursday, November 27, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lima Veteran’s Memorial Civic and Convention Center.
“We recognize the importance of having a place for people to eat and fellowship on a special day like Thanksgiving,” says local McDonald’s owner, Jerry Lewis. “We continue to be amazed with the support of our community.”
The dinner includes the traditional Thanksgiving fixings, including turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, and more. Enough food will be prepared to feed 3200 guests. More than 800 pounds of turkey, 800 pounds of mashed potatoes, 540 pounds of stuffing, 300 pounds of gravy, more than 200 pies, and 24 pounds of whipped cream will be prepared that day.
The dinner is free and open to the public and everyone is welcome. “Guests join us because they are not able to prepare a meal, do not have relatives in town this year, or simply want to fellowship with others in the community that day. Either way, we become a family that day,” says Lewis.
In addition to the dinner, there will be clothing and grocery giveaways. Only Believe Ministries in Botkins will bring a school bus filled with clothing. Guests will be able to take with them any needed clothing items, including pants, shirts, shoes, coats, and hats.
There will again be a grocery bag giveaway for guests. Last year, each guest was able to take home several bags of groceries in addition to the hot meal they received. “Our goal is not just to feed someone for one meal, but to provide them with enough food for several meals. We are able to do this year after year thanks to our many community partners,” says Lewis.
The grocery giveaway is made possible through the generous donations of many local organizations including the Boy Scouts of Allen County, Childers Media Group, and Save‐A‐Lot Food Stores. The Boy Scouts are currently collecting non‐perishable food and toiletry items during business hours at the Scout Shop, located at 752 W. Robb Ave. in Lima.
New Country 92.1 The Frog and Sport Radio 93.1, part of a five‐station radio group known as Childers Media Group, and Save‐A‐Lot Food Stores have also teamed up again this year for a Cram the Van event to collect items for the Thanksgiving Day Dinner. Various Childers Media Group radio stations will be at two Save‐A‐Lot Food Stores in Lima—Cole and Bellefontaine—on Monday and Tuesday, November 24 and 25. For every $3 donation that a customer adds to their bill, one bag of groceries will be donated to the Thanksgiving Day Dinner.
Free transportation to and from the event will be provided if needed. RTA will have one bus running from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to transport people to and from the dinner. The bus will stop at Pilgrim Place Apartments, The Towers Apartments, Furl Williams Apartments, Lima West Apartments, and along Brower Road.
“Year after year, we continue to be amazed at the community’s willingness to give up their own Thanksgiving to serve one another,” says Lewis. The community partners that help make the Thanksgiving Day Dinner possible include: New Country 92.1 The Frog and Childers Media Group, Save‐ A‐Lot Food Stores, The Boy Scouts of Allen County, Allen County Refuse, Coca‐Cola, Only Believe Ministries, New Horizons Baking Company, Dickerson Wrightway Food Service, Allen County RTA, Lima Allen County Veteran’s Memorial and Civic Convention Center, and Miller’s Textile Service.
At this time, Lewis Family McDonald’s is accepting volunteers for the dinner. For more information about the Lewis Family McDonald’s Thanksgiving Day Dinner, or to sign up to volunteer, please visit www.LewisFamilyMcDonalds.com/community or call (419) 225‐5916.
About McDonald’s
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 27 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. McDonald’s franchisee, Jerry Lewis, started in the McDonald’s business as a manager trainee in Zanesville, Ohio more than thirty years ago. Today, he and his children own and operate 17 McDonald’s Restaurants employing more than 1000 individuals in Lima, Delphos, Van Wert, Beaverdam, Bluffton, Ada, Ottawa, Hicksville, Carey, and Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Lewis Family Restaurants believes in giving back to the communities in which they do business and supporting a variety of worthy causes. For more information, visit www.JerryLewisMcDonalds.com.
