Salvation Army of Greater Hartford Delivers
758 Dinners on Thanksgiving Morning

Volunteers provide warm greeting and hot turkey meal!

HARTFORD – Each year on Thanksgiving, The Salvation Army of Greater Hartford offers a full turkey dinner through its Holiday Meals Program, with all the trimmings, for homebound seniors. Thanksgiving is only one of two days each year (Christmas being the other) that the Meals on Wheels Program does not operate. Yet, these are the days when a hot, nutritious meal brought by a friendly visitor is generally most appreciated. In response, The Salvation Army of Greater Hartford has been delivering meals on Thanksgiving and Christmas morning since 1970.

The meals are prepared and delivered from The Salvation Army’s South End location on Washington Street. Volunteers begin arriving just before 8:00. As always, there are many familiar faces showing up and checking in for duty. Some have even been volunteering for over 20 years! Many parents bring along their college-age children, who are home for the holidays. Some of these same students started "delivering" holiday meals when they were just in grade school, but they come back year after year because... it’s the right thing to do!

(Greater Hartford Advisory Board Members, ready to lend a hand.)

Volunteers are then split into two groups - the servers and the deliverers. There are always a few new faces in the crowd, but for the most part there is very little retraining needed. The servers work their food stations and add their lot to each plate. When each meal is complete, it is wrapped in foil, put in a bag, and given to the servers who are ready to hit the streets of Hartford and some of its surrounding towns.

Over the years, the Holiday Meals Program has steadily grown and now serves more than 750 seniors on both Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings. Approximately 200 volunteers and Salvation Army staff help to prepare and deliver each meal, as well as provide a friendly visit to each senior. The well-balanced meals are delivered hot and are low in fat and sodium, meeting the dietary restrictions often placed upon the seniors. A beverage and a dessert are also included. With many seniors fed and plans underway for Christmas morning, the program is made possible through the generosity of donors and the volunteers - people like you!