St. Thomas Gives Residents A Place To Go This Thanksgiving

Not everyone is fortunate to have a family feast to attend on Thanksgiving. Senior citizens may be home-bound or families may not be able to afford the price of preparing a turkey dinner, which shot up 13 percent this year.

Thanks to members of the St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in West Hempstead and generous local merchants, now everyone can enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving meal surrounded by friends.

For the first year, the parish is holding a community Thanksgiving Dinner, which will be held on Nov. 24 from noon to 2 p.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle School, located at 12 Wesminster Road.

With the help of several local families and businesses, a full Thanksgiving feast will be served to anyone who wishes to attend. Volunteers will also deliver meals to anyone who prefers to stay home. Just call 516-376-0422 to RSVP if possible (although not necessary) or to request a meal, or meals, be delivered to your home.

"Everybody's been so generous," said Melissa Connolly, a Malverne resident and a member of the St. Thomas community, who coordinated the event with Melissa LaMagna.

Malverne Prime Meats and Riesterer's Bakery in West Hempstead both stepped up with big donations, and Lucky Duck in Garden City South gave a number of gift cards, she added.

At this time, the parish has all the food it needs and plenty of volunteers, but they need people to spread the word.

"Tell anybody you know that you think might be spending Thanksgiving alone," Connolly said.