Community Thanksgiving event offering free holiday meals

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and for the Pahrump Holiday Task Force, it’s going to be a busy one as the committee prepares, packages and distributes hundreds of free Thanksgiving dinners, complete with traditional turkey and tasty trimmings.

For many years running, Thanksgiving in the valley has included a big gathering for the Community Thanksgiving Dinner, with a plethora of area families, individuals and even tourists heading out to enjoy a hot holiday meal together.

This year, the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have put a stop to the in-person gathering aspect of the event but that does not mean the entire tradition has been scrapped. Instead, the Pahrump Holiday Task Force, which is organizing the annual event for 2020, has shifted gears and reinvented the Community Thanksgiving Dinner into a curbside pickup event. This means that though community members will not be able to come together and sit down to a communal meal, they will still be able to drop by the distribution site and grab a few pre-packaged holiday meals to take home for themselves and their families to feast upon.

“The Pahrump Holiday Task Force is very excited to be able to continue the traditional Thanksgiving meal for our community. It’s been a tough year with COVID-19 and we are so pleased we were able to come together to reorganize the event into a curbside pickup event to allow the tradition to continue while helping keep our community safe from exposure to the virus,” Pahrump Holiday Task Force Chair Linda Wright told the Pahrump Valley Times.

The Pahrump Holiday Task Force Thanksgiving Dinner will kick off tomorrow morning, Thursday, Nov. 26 at the NyE Communities Coalition, located at 1020 E. Wilson Road in the center of town.

Meal distribution was originally slated to take place in front of the flagpole, but now, committee members will be setting up by the coalition’s Activities Center. To-go boxes of complete Thanksgiving meals will be ready for pickup beginning at 10 a.m. and the committee will continue to distribute the free dinners until 1:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving afternoon. Meals will include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables and dessert.

“We are looking forward to providing these free holiday meals to everyone and encourage anyone who needs or wants them to head out to the coalition and pick up their meals on Thanksgiving Day,” Wright stated. “Just follow the signs!”

In addition to the Pahrump Holiday Task Force, the Disabled American Veterans Chapter #15 and its auxiliary will be getting in on the event as well.

Every year this veterans’ organization usually heads up the effort to provide particular attention and service to veterans attending the community Thanksgiving gatherings, helping seat them at specially reserved tables and bringing plates loaded with delicious eats directly to them.

With the sit-down event forced to pivot to a pickup only model, the DAV and its auxiliary will not be able to provide the same service this year but the group is not letting that stop them from doing something to show their appreciation for America’s former military service members. The DAV and its auxiliary will be on site throughout the meal distribution tomorrow to pay tribute to and honor Pahrump’s veterans.

For more information contact Wright at lwright.la.vfw@gmail.com

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com