The busy holiday season is upon us! In about 24 hours the Trinity Center at The Hope Center in Hagerstown will come to life with hundreds of people. Some will be guests, some will be volunteers, some will be staff, but all will be giving thanks to God together as one family!

As it is every year, we’ve been busy for weeks preparing all the final touches to our Great Hagerstown Thanksgiving Feast. And now it’s time to bring it all together so that anyone and everyone in Hagerstown can have a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

We’ve been roasting 18 turkeys, peeling tons of potatoes and setting up enough tables and chairs to feed over 250. Thanksgiving Day is a major event at the Hope Center. Since 1955, we’ve been making an incredible Thanksgiving feast for the community.

So you might be wondering, how much food does it take to serve a meal like that for such a large number of people? Good question! Here’s a run-down of what our supply list is like for Thanksgiving:

Turkey – 300 lbs – 18 turkeys

Potatoes – 240 lbs

Sweet Potatoes – 12 #10 cans

Brown Sugar – 8 lbs

Butter – 48 lbs

Bread – 75 loaves

Eggs – 26 dozen

Onions – 12

Celery – 3

Corn – 6 #10 cans

Lima Beans – 6 #10 cans

Sauerkraut – 6 #10 cans

Cranberry Sauce – 6 #10 cans

Bananas – 5 lbs

Fruit Cocktail – 3 #10 cans

Pies – Over 50 pies (generally pumpkin and pecan)

Even though our Thanksgiving feast is a lot of work, we love hosting this community event each year. The holiday season wouldn’t seem complete without seeing all the happy, smiling faces that are a part of our Thanksgiving tradition.

We are so thankful for all the wonderful volunteers who will be joining us tomorrow. These fantastic people help to make Thanksgiving special for so many people in our community. We couldn’t do our Thanksgiving feast without the combined efforts of our staff, volunteers and residents. So we want to say ‘thank you’ to anyone and everyone who is a part of making this Thanksgiving special to all of our guests!

If you’re reading this and you don’t have any plans for tomorrow then why don’t you join us? There will be plenty of delicious food, but most importantly, there will be plenty of good fellowship! Each year the Trinity Center is filled with over 250 people and yet it still feels like a close family coming together to thank God. If you don’t have plans tomorrow then there is no reason that you can’t join us and enjoy Thanksgiving with your Hope Center family!

Our ‘Great Hagerstown Thanksgiving Feast’ starts at 11:30am in the Trinity Center which is located next to our Thrift Store on Walnut Street between Franklin & Church Streets. There is plenty of parking in our central lot just off of Church Street.

And kids are welcome too! Wildside Youth Ministries will be hosting kids’ activities starting at 11am in the Trinity Center. So invite your family, friends & neighbors to come out and celebrate with us!

No matter what you’re doing tomorrow, we hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and please remember to stop and thank God for all the wonderful blessings that He’s provided this past year. Even when times are tough, we can see God moving, working and providing.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!! We hope to see many of your smiling faces tomorrow. And if you are able to join us…make sure you come hungry!