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Methodist Church in Fairfield to prepare 800 meals on Thanksgiving
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FAIRFIELD – The First United Methodist Church in Fairfield is gearing up for its 21st annual free Thanksgiving Day meal on Thursday, Nov. 27, and organizers are preparing to serve a whopping 800 meals.
If that number seems large, it’s because it would be a new record. And it wouldn’t just break the record, set last year, but shatter it. For the meal’s first 15 years or so, organizers could consistently plan on serving about 350 people. But the numbers have shot up since COVID, jumping to 500 a few years ago and then to 620 in 2024.
Carrie Brownlee, who has been in charge of the meal for about a decade, said the church believes there will be greater demand this year for a free Thanksgiving meal.
“With everything going on with the government, and people not getting SNAP benefits, I’m anticipating we may have more need this year,” she said.
The meal will be served from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., but with separate times for carry-out and dine-in. The church is asking carry-outs to start coming at 11 a.m., and then dine-in will begin at noon.
“We had such congestion last year with carry-outs and people dining in coming at the same time that we want to offset the times to alleviate that congestion,” Brownlee said.
The menu will be the tried and true turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, roll and desserts. Brownlee said that, in addition to the traditional pies, there will be other choices for dessert this year.
The free meal would not be possible without the help of several other churches, civic groups and businesses. For instance, First Lutheran Church will provide the stuffing; First Christian Church the rolls; Knights of Columbus will help with pies; Logli’s is selling the mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans to the church at cost; and First Baptist Church will also help with desserts.
The church asks the public to RSVP if they wish to eat a meal and to indicate whether they’re requesting delivery, carry-out or dine-in. Residents can call the church at 641-472-4303, or call Brownlee at 641-919-6046. The deadline for reservations is Tuesday, Nov. 25.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
