Thanksgiving for Paso Robles celebrates 40 years and thousands of served meals
PASO ROBLES — Thanksgiving for Paso Robles celebrated 40 years of giving thanks by continuing the tradition of a free community feast on Thursday, Nov. 28, at the Centennial Park Activity Center. Last year, almost 1,500 meals were served by over 200 volunteers, and this year was no different.
All were welcome to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving sit-down meal of oven-roasted turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, mixed vegetables, salad, candied yams, cranberry sauce, rolls, and house-baked pies at no cost. Started by Mildred Wilkins, an aspiring restauranteur, this gathering is made possible by the generous contributions of many organizations, businesses, and individuals.
In 1984, Thanksgiving for Paso Robles was born. It all started with a small holiday dinner at the Paso Robles Senior Center for 80 people who had nowhere to spend the holiday. The event has now grown into a true community effort serving over 1,000 men, women, and children at the Centennial Park Activity Center. Each year the center is transformed into a large restaurant for a single day. The entirely home-cooked menu includes oven-roasted turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, mixed vegetables, salad, candied yams, cranberry sauce, rolls, and house-baked pies.
Photos by Camille DeVaul/PRP
Event Chairman David Kudija told Paso Robles Press that inflation the past year has not made funding the event easy.However, organizers were thankful to receive a large dairy donation from Producers Dairy as well as all of their produce donated by Cookie Crock Market in Cambria.
“[Those donations] help a lot. But, of course, the cost is in the meat, the ham, the turkey, and that we have to buy. So it’s our many sponsors from little bits; we put it all together and have enough to fund our endeavor,” Kudija shared.
When asked what the future looks like for Thanksgiving for Paso Robles, Kudija said that without moving to a larger facility and finding a larger kitchen, they are at their limit for now.
“In our discussions, we think this is the volume that we’re probably gonna stand because we’re limited by facilities,” Kudija said. Currently, volunteers use the Paso Robles Culinary Arts Academy to cook the meals that are then brought to Centennial Park for serving.
Photos by Camille DeVaul/PRP
Each year, meals are also brought to the El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO). This year, Kudija worked with ECHO to set aside 120 meals for the Paso Robles ECHO location. More meals are delivered to members of the community who are homebound and others have the option to pick up their meals to take home.
On Thursday, the dining room was full to the brim with dine in guests and more waiting in lines out the door to pick up their meals. During the last few years, the committee was seeing more take-out dinners but Kudija was happy to see more people coming back to the dining room to enjoy the full experience.
“Hopefully, that will continue to grow,” he said. “That’s the whole thing. A community meal … We walk in. We treat them as a a special guest. You see, we have waiters. They eat on China. They are catered to. That’s where we’re different than many other things.”
Altogether, the committee prepared 1,100 meals with 800 meals delivered that day.
Lastly, Kudija said, “We look forward to 41 [years].”
Feature Images: Thanksgiving for Paso Robles committee board members celebrate another successful holiday dinner at the Centennial Park Activity Center. Photo provided by Thanksgiving for Paso Robles
Photos by Camille DeVaul/PRP
