Epworth celebrates Thanksgiving by giving

The free Thanksgiving dinner provided by Epworth United Methodist Church isn’t just for the poor, downtrodden, lonely or homeless. It’s a service provided for everyone.

“No questions asked. There’s no stipulation or reason why,” said the Rev. Dr. Pat Loughlin, associate pastor. “All means all.”

This was the seventh straight year Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach has cooked Thanksgiving dinner.

Wearing a tie-dye shirt and handing plates out to visitors, Loughlin, who goes by Rev. Pat, said the church had prepared enough food for 400 people. There were 299 people served last year, she said, and there’s been a lot of good advertising of the event, so the turnout is expected to be good.

Loughlin said the free meal started out modestly seven years ago, but has grown into a community event. The first year, she said, there were 40 volunteers and only 20 people showed up.

No food went to waste that year though. Loughlin said they bagged everything up and took it to the local fire departments and police stations - places they knew people would be working on Thanksgiving, she said.

Food provided for the meal is all donated.

Juan Escamilla, executive chef for Irish Eyes in Lewes, and a dedicated group of volunteers – numbering near 100 – started preparing for the meal Nov. 25. He estimated there were 35 turkey, 15 pounds each, 100 pounds of sweet potatoes, 50 pounds of corn and 50 pounds of green beans cooked and prepared for the meal. There were also 75-100 pies, he said.

Escamilla has been helping with the Thanksgiving meal and then heading to work for the restaurant afterwards since the beginning. The busy day working while most people are enjoying a day off is worth it, he said.

It’s really a blessing to be able to help with the community, Escamilla said.

Longtime church member Penny MacLennan is another one of those dedicated volunteers. She helped start the church’s Sunday soup kitchen three years ago.

MacLennan said she enjoys helping at the church because she loves helping people in need. She said the kitchen volunteers have been planning for a couple of weeks and started food prep two days before.

“I’ve been a lot of places to help,” she said, “but I love being home. I’ve got family, but this church is my second family.”

Not all the volunteers were church members.

Al Sloane and Morgan Harris have been making the trip from Rockville, Md., for the past five years. This year the two manned the take-out window with Rose Barcellona.

It was Harris’ idea to help at the church. She’s 16. At the age of 12 she thought it was a good way to give back.

“Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, and it doesn’t get much better than doing something like this,” she said.

The doors for the meal opened a few minutes before noon and by 12:05 people were enjoying a Thanksgiving meal in the table-filled multi-purpose room.

Arlan and Edna Schaller of Rehoboth Beach said they were there because it’s just the two of them and cooking a whole meal for themselves would be unnecessary.

“Plus, I like their fresh turkey,” said Edna. “I like the dark meat.”

Phillip Wall was on his way to work at the Frog Pond in Rehoboth. He said most of his family is deceased; he said that he had been invited out to dinner with people, but he liked having his meal in the church setting more.

“I’m definitely thankful for it,” he said.