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Community Thanksgiving Dinner 2025

St. John’s is once again proud to sponsor the Community Thanksgiving Dinner. This cherished tradition relies on the generosity of our community—through donations of time, money, and space.

New Location for Meal Preparation

Due to growing demand, the Thanksgiving Committee has decided to move meal preparation and assembly off-site this year. Instead of St. John’s, we will be using the Richland Center Community Center. Over the past decade, the number of meals we prepare has steadily increased. Last year, we served over 511 meals—287 delivered to homes and 224 available for pickup. Unfortunately, we exceeded the capacity of St. John’s facilities, which made logistics challenging, especially with limited electrical outlets for roasters.

Thanks to the support of the Parks Board, we’ve been granted use of the Richland Center Community Center, with the daily use fees waived in recognition of the event’s service to the broader community. This new location will allow us to streamline operations, with all roasters and equipment centralized in the gym and kitchen areas. The building layout and parking will also improve the flow for deliveries and pickup orders.

St. John’s Continues to Lead

While the location has changed, St. John’s remains the organizer and sponsor of the event, continuing our commitment to serving the community with this outreach.

How You Can Help

We are seeking monetary donations to help cover the cost of the meals, which we estimate at approximately $10 per meal. Your continued generosity is what makes this event possible year after year.  There is an option to give via our website under the Give tab at the top of the page.

We also need volunteers for food preparation and service:

  • Wednesday, 4:00–8:00 PM: Preparing cranberries, bagging buns, and cutting/packaging pies.
  • Thursday:
    • 6:00–10:00 AM: Turkey carving and food prep.
    • 10:00–11:30 AM: Serving food and packaging meals.
    • 10:30–12:00 PM: Meal delivery.
    • 11:00–1:00 PM: Cleanup.

Sign-up sheets will be posted in the Narthex. You can also contact Clare Bruckner at (608) 604-9064 or cbruckner9064@gmail.com to volunteer.

Thank You!

Thank you for your continued support. This event would not be possible without our amazing volunteers and generous donors. We look forward to another successful Thanksgiving celebration with you!

     ~The Thanksgiving Committee, Patty Libansky, Lara Carpenter and Clare Bruckner