Side Dish Prep/Donation Instructions:
No Nuts should be used in any of the dishes.
Please bring an 8-10 person serving size (12 servings for desserts).
Food donations that are served hot should be brought in hot and all donations should be in labeled disposable containers/bags to the church on 11/21 by 6:15 p.m. Disposable aluminum pans are available at Hope.
If your dish is dairy/gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, please include this information.
Thanksgiving Banquet - Roles
Greeters - Welcome people as they arrive, encourage them to take a name tag. Start greeting at 6:15 PM.
Encourage them to take a nametag
Hand out activity stickers to kids
Encourage families to sit on the playground side to be the first to eat.
Kitchen Manager/Coordinator - Make sure everyone is set in their areas in the kitchen/basement. Help out where necessary in the kitchen. Keep food warm and flowing. Make gravy. Interface with stage coordinator via walkie talkie or from intel from runners to make sure food on stage stays stocked.
Turkey Carvers - Turkeys should arrive by 5:45 (at the latest). You can carve as they arrive. Reserve any juices for gravy. In the sanctuary, we need 1-2 people serving the Turkey to people. Otherwise, people will take too much and we will run out of Turkey.
Ham - We need 1 person to cut hams and place them in pans.
Gravy - We need one person to make gravy. You can use turkey juices, a combination of chicken broth and corn starch, or gravy packets from the grocery store. Make about 25 cups of gravy (1.56 gallons).
Side Dishes: Separate dishes into categories as they arrive (veggies, potatoes, stuffing), heat up in the oven in batches, and coordinate runners who will bring items upstairs as needed—in communication with Andrew Gilson and Mike Brooks.
Desserts - 2-3 people. Cut and plate the desserts and arrange an assortment on 12-15 trays for serving.
Bread and Beverages - 2-3 people. Cut/heat/separate bread/rolls into baskets. Set up water and lemonade (like on Sunday mornings). Keep an eye on beverages and bread throughout.
Runners - Help keep the upstairs filled during the meal and bring desserts downstairs at the scheduled time. Need at least 7 people available in case of rushes. (can overlap with some of above roles)
Clean up - Need several to help upstairs and about 3-4 to help with clean up in the kitchen. Kitchen clean up starts at end of night. It’s a long and thankless job so if you’re willing to stay for this, please just enjoy the evening beforehand and don’t feel like you need to volunteer before the clean up. Thanks for being willing!