SALAMANCA — The Salamanca City Central School District will host its sixth annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner from 5-7 p.m. Monday in the high school cafeteria at 50 Iroquois Drive.
The dinner is free and open to the Salamanca community. Please RSVP by Friday online through salamancany.org and follow the Community Thanksgiving Dinner link.
Preparations for this year’s dinner, co-sponsored and organized by the Kiwanis Key Club, are going well so far, co-club advisor Billie Breazeale told the Press.
“We got our paperwork in and have pushed out all of the information to students, teachers, parents, etc.,” she said. “This year we have 27 students that have signed up for Key Club.”
The Community Thanksgiving Dinner is a free event made possible through a Cattaraugus County Youth Service Program grant, private donations and student contributions. Through a grade-level competition, high school students bring items including paper products, cranberry sauce, stuffing, potatoes and corn. The school staff will provide the desserts.
Although no stats have been added up yet, last year saw freshmen collect 450 pounds of fresh potatoes, sophomores supply 75 cans of cranberry sauce, juniors gather 150 cans of corn and seniors provide 75 boxes of stuffing.
Community speakers are scheduled to kick off the event with a few remarks starting at 4:45 p.m.
Breazeale said the Key Club has discussed a couple of new ideas, but nothing had been decided yet. With about 400 dinners served last year after canceling in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, she said they’re just hoping to have more hungry diners this year.
“This is great for the community too, as it is a nice, hot, free meal for all,” she said. “It is a great way to get together with others and support what the kids are doing.”
The dinner is sponsored by the Salamanca High School Kiwanis Key Club, an international student-led organization that presents its members opportunities to provide community service, build character and develop leadership abilities.
“We are really excited to be putting this on again this year and are hoping for a great turnout,” said co-club advisor Ann Smith. “We are so proud of how hard the kids work on this dinner.”
“This is good for our students in Key Club because it involves giving back to the community,” Breazeale added. “Having a sense of community, especially in our small town is important. We want our students to understand that this is where it starts.”
If you have questions or would like to make food or monetary donations, email Billie Breazeale at bbreazeale@salamancany.org or Ann Smith at asmith@salamancany.org.
