Community invited to Thanksgiving dinner

WASILLA — Vandana Ingle has planned for 300 guests. More than that she leaves up to God.

“I believe in faith,” she said Wednesday afternoon. “We know that God will provide.”

She won’t turn anyone away.

As she spoke, her words were interrupted by questions — is this a good configuration for the tables? Are these all the chairs we’re using?

Frontline Mission is offering a free community Thanksgiving dinner at the church with which it is affiliated — Wasilla Lake Church of the Nazarene on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway near Fred Meyer. The dinner runs from noon to 3 p.m.

It’s likely going to be the largest community dinner for the Valley on Thanksgiving Day and will be the first for the church. Organizers plan to make it a regular thing, so this year’s is important.

“It’s the first time and we want to do it well,” Ingle said.

When feeding 300 people, the numbers start to get somewhat staggering. As she spoke, somewhere someone was in the process of cooking more than 40 turkeys. By Thursday, they’d also have 200 to 300 pounds of potatoes.

Manpower is also going to be a big deal. Ingle said there are 70 volunteers signed up.

“It’s not a buffet, it’s a sit-down special dinner,” she said.

Some of those volunteers have signed up specifically to cook, some to serve, and some to be hosts facilitating conversations at the tables. The idea is to have a family setting at the dinner.

People who want to help but are busy on Thanksgiving can still show up on Friday to help clean up.

Frontline Mission runs a food pantry out of a building on the church property and has done the whole community dinner thing before for Easter. But that dinner was about half the size, just 150 people.

Ingle said the idea behind Frontline is to serve as a facilitator or, in her words, “a connecting place between the less fortunate and the giving community.”

People want to help and people need the help, she said. Frontline wants to bring them together.

“In everything that we do at Frontline, that’s our main focus,” she said. “We are the avenue where they can come in and serve together.”

Aside from the volunteers, businesses also have chipped in. North Star Bakery donated buns. Franz Bakery donated bread to make into stuffing. Pizza Galley on Bogard Road let them use some space.

Community members are also donating. Someone paid for the signage. Frontline also solicited $3.11 per meal donations. Ingle said there were people who sponsored one meal and people who sponsored 100.

“The community has come together to make this happen,” Ingle said. “We’re excited that we can partner with so many people.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.