PORT ANGELES — As the Port Angeles Salvation Army prepares for what it expects to be more people than ever for its annual Thanksgiving meal today, it is also looking ahead to expansion to take care of increased demand in the future.
The meal, scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army, 206 S. Peabody St., Port Angeles, will include turkey and all the trimmings.
It is one of several free community Thanksgiving meals planned in Port Angeles and other North Olympic Peninsula towns.
Volunteers began prepping food on Tuesday, said Maj. Darvin Jordan, who took over from Maj. Hal Hads in August.
Unemployment and hard economic times have led to about a 15 percent increase in daily meals over last year, Jordan estimated, saying that the nonprofit agency served about 29,400 meals from September 2008 to September 2009.
On a daily basis — meals are served from noon to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday — about 75 people show up at the first of each month, when unemployment and other government benefits are paid, but by the middle of the month, and stretching to the end of the month, about 175 people are being fed daily, he said.
Higher demand has led to plans to expand into a 17-by-50-foot area addition to the building is in the plans to house refrigerators and other food storage.
That would open up the gymnasium, which now houses food supplies.
The gym could then be used for children’s programs and other events.
“We are even talking to other organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs [of the Olympic Peninsula] about possibly doing some programs in there,” Jordan said.
“We have so much going on.”
Expects 300 today
Jordan expects about 300 people for today’s Thanksgiving meal, served the day before the traditional turkey day.
In 2007, about 170 meals were served for Thanksgiving, a typical number of people to show up for a meal on any given day of the month, Jordan said.
Last year’s Thanksgiving drew 210 people. Jordan expects more this year, although he said that there is no reliable way to guess how many will come.
“The good news is we are flat as far as finances go. In a time when a lot of organizations are down, that is good,” Jordan said.
“But there are more people that need to be served, and we have gone down in food donations.
“We have all of these folks who stand in line and stagger in for groceries and other kinds of help — the need is way, way larger than it has ever been before, but our resources are not larger.”
Jordan said he has noticed a marked increase in the number of “working poor” who have come in for help.
“These are people who have never needed help before, who recently lost their jobs or are very underemployed,” Jordan said.
“There is a certain group of people that are practically professionals at navigating the charitable organizations, but people who have never needed help before don’t know where to get help.
“Many of these people know our name and so they come to us, and we don’t ask them to prove anything — we help them on their statement of need.”
The Salvation Army in one of the agencies that will provide both a hot meal and some company during the holiday season, Jordan said.
“We always have some people who come for Thanksgiving because they are lonely,” he said.
“We welcome them and encourage people to come,” he said.
Preparing for Christmas
Jordan said the agency also is beginning to brace for the Christmas season.
“Last year at Christmas, we distributed groceries to about 1,000 families and toys to more than 2,000 children,” he said.
“This year, we expect that number to be a lot higher.
“I don’t know if we’ll have funds to do that.”
The Salvation Army will serve a Christmas Day meal.
“A lot of the time people have places to go on the days around Christmas, but on the day they are stuck with nowhere warm to go, so we want to do that,” Jordan said.
He said that he is seeking volunteers for the occasion. Servers are always available in abundance, but set up and cleanup crews can sometimes be scarce, he added.
“We, of course, need volunteers all the time and I’m so grateful for the groups and churches that faithfully come and help, but we are always in need of more,” Jordan said.
Kettle Program
The Kettle Program — which places “bell ringers” outside of local stores to collect donations — had a soft start last week and will officially kick off this week.
“That is one of the staples of reaching out, and how people help us,” Jordan said.
For more information phone 360-452-7679. The mailing address for donations is P. O. Box 2229, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.