Pahrump Holiday Task Force Thanksgiving event offers free meal, good company

Thanksgiving is a time for gathering, for family and friends to come together to break bread on a day dedicated to expressing appreciation for all the wonderful things in life.

All around the town of Pahrump, area residences will throw open their doors to relatives and neighbors, inviting them in to enjoy a hot holiday meal in celebration of the season, but for some, that just won’t be possible. This could be due to a lack of financial resources, a scarcity of time in which to organize and cook a huge communal meal or simply because the person does not have any family or friends with which to spend the holiday.

No matter the reason, however, the Pahrump Holiday Task Force wants the entire community to know that nobody has to spend the holiday alone or hungry.

This Thanksgiving, any and all are welcome to head out to the Pahrump Holiday Task Force’s annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow at the NyE Communities Coalition. The task force has been hard at work over the past couple of months preparing for this yearly endeavor and everyone on that committee is bubbling with enthusiasm now that the event is right around the corner.

“The Pahrump Holiday Task Force is so excited to be able to host our annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner in person this year,” task force chair Linda Wright told the Pahrump Valley Times.

“Last year was a real challenge for everyone and we did everything we could to make sure that our community at least had a nice Thanksgiving meal to enjoy. But we missed out on one of the things that the holiday is really all about, coming together to share the day with each other. That’s why we are so amped about this year, knowing people will be able to come, sit down together and revel in the camaraderie that Thanksgiving represents, with a delicious feast to top it all off!”

The meal will be served buffet style, with a buffet line set up inside the coalition’s activities center. Friendly volunteers will be on hand, ready to divvy out pounds of freshly roasted turkey, mounds of mashed potatoes, heaps of green beans, piles of stuffing, gallons of gravy and plenty of rolls, along with a plethora of pies to tempt the sweet tooth once the main meal has been devoured. To wash it all down, there will be coffee, tea and water available and all throughout the feast, attendees will be treated to entertainment, with J&D disc jockeying music from a variety of genres and time periods.

While the general public will need to navigate the buffet line themselves, those from the veteran community will be honored with special service, with volunteers set to play waiters for former military service members by collecting their meals and delivering them right to the tables that have been earmarked solely for the use of veterans and their families.

With the fall season firmly underway and winter weather looming, temperatures are steadily dropping, making the Community Thanksgiving Dinner a good time to offer not just a free meal but some cold-weather gear to those who might be in need as well. Anyone who stops by the coalition during the Community Thanksgiving Dinner will be able to step into the room prepared especially for the purpose and pick from a variety of warm and comfy blankets as well as some beautiful and lovingly made knitted hats to help stave off the chill of the coming months.

Community Thanksgiving Dinner attendees are reminded that masks must be worn whenever they are not sitting at their tables eating their meals. COVID-19 sanitization protocols will be followed, with all volunteers to be masked and gloved.

“We are looking forward to seeing everyone there this year and we just know it’s going to be extra special after having to wait two whole years to spend the holiday together as a community,” Wright concluded.

The Community Thanksgiving Dinner is set for tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 25 at the NyE Communities Coalition, 1020 E. Wilson Road. Doors will open at 11 a.m. and the meal service will continue until 2 p.m.

For more information on the event or the Pahrump Holiday Task Force as a group, email PahrumpHolidayTaskForce@gmail.com

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com