Pictured left to right are partners for this year’s Thanksgiving Community Dinner in Cambridge: Krista Pettit, Director of One Mission Cambridge; Chris Rojas, owner of Taqueria Floritas; Ricky Simmons, Simmons Center Market; Ann Crocker and Barbara Schneider of the Cambridge Wesleyan Church and One Mission Cambridge; and Antoine Patton of the Cambridge Police Department.
This year’s 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner will be bigger than ever. The event, to be held on Monday, November 25 at 1 p.m. at the Cambridge Wesleyan Church at 803 Race Street in Cambridge, hopes to serve 400 people.
By partnering with new partners, the Cambridge Police Department, the Cambridge Wesleyan Church, Carmela’s Cucina, and Garden Church, One Mission Cambridge and its existing partners, Taqueria Floritas and Simmons Center Market, along with the help of the community, hopes to reach even more individuals this holiday season by offering one “sit-down” or one “to-go” meal per person options.
“We are so pleased with all of the new partners, donors, and volunteers who have come together this year to make this event happen. We reached over 300 people last year and hope to reach even more this year. It takes a village, and we are grateful to our Cambridge community for their continued generosity in helping to meet the needs of our most vulnerable community,” states Krista Pettit, Director of One Mission Cambridge.
Antoine Patton of the Cambridge Police Department, one of the new partners with the event, shares that for the past 10 years, the Cambridge Police Department has been supplying families with Thanksgiving meals to cook. They wanted to do more, so for the past three years we have been doing a Thanksgiving dinner and each year have fed over 300 community members. He shares, “This year we partnered with One Mission because we realized that by working together, we could make this dinner bigger and better.”
“The Thanksgiving dinner is important to our community because in this day and time unfortunately everyone cannot afford to purchase dinner with the rising cost of food and some of our senior community live off of a fixed income. We at the Cambridge Police Department want to be a blessing to those who are in need. Also, there are others who would be spending Thanksgiving alone and this is an opportunity for them to have dinner with other members of our community,” he adds.
According to Chris Rojas, owner of Taqueria Floritas in Cambridge, his restaurant will cook 18 to 20 turkeys purchased through Simmons Center Market, as well as prepare the mashed potatoes and gravy. Carmela’s Cucina supplies the side dishes, and local churches donate the desserts. A number of the partners are also supplying volunteers to staff the event. The purchase of food for the meal is made possible by community donations.
“Thanksgiving spirit is about coming together. It’s a chance to say hello to our neighbors and tell them that we see them and we care. It’s also a way to bridge the gap between community members. A warm meal is all it takes,” states Rojas.
For further information about the Thanksgiving meal, visit onemissioncambridge.org.
One Mission Cambridge is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, from 1 to 5 p.m. for services. For additional information visit onemissioncambridge.org, Facebook, or Instagram. Donations can be made to One Mission Cambridge, P.O. Box 1495, Cambridge, MD 21613.
