Judy Snyder, event organizer, looks through her delivery cards.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Around 2,000 Charleston residents in need will be receiving a free hot meal on Thanksgiving.
Volunteers with the 53rd annual Frank Veltri Thanksgiving Dinner were busy preparing those meals inside the First Baptist Church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday.
“They will cut up the turkeys, slice the hams today (Wednesday),” Judy Snyder, the coordinator the dinner told MetroNews.
“On Thanksgiving morning, I will decorate the tables when I get here at 6 a.m. and they will start cooking the food out there and get deliveries in order.”
Snyder said the delivery numbers have reached 1,744 this year. Those deliveries, that begin at 10 a.m., will go to dozens of apartment complexes through Charleston and housing on the West Side.
Between 200 and 250 meals are expected to be served at the church on Thursday, starting around 11:30 a.m. and lasting until all the food is gone.
The menu includes around 60 turkey breasts, 17 turkeys, 40 hams, 315 pies, 2,300 rolls, green beans, cranberry sauce, 80 pounds of dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, soda, and water.
Frank Veltri, a Charleston hotel owner, started the tradition Thanksgiving Day 1966.
Veltri, who passed away in 2001, began the Thanksgiving Day tradition at his hotel in 1966. Snyder said Veltri was her mentor, and his legacy pushes her to continue to serve and lead the nearly 200 volunteers.
“I promised Franky that as long as I was able, I would carry on his vision that he wanted everybody to have a free hot meal on Thanksgiving Day.”
First Baptist Church is located on 432 Shrewsbury Street in downtown Charleston.
