Hundreds gather at Hemmens for Elgin community dinner
Elgin's Sampson and Saenz families had never met before Thursday, not hard to do in a city of 108,000, but Thursday afternoon they shared Thanksgiving dinner.
Both families were among the hundreds of residents packing Elgin's Thanksgiving Community Dinner at The Hemmens.
“Our family is far away so we come here to feel like we get a big family meal,” said Reynaldo Saenz, who was with his wife, Cecelia, and two young children. “And the kids enjoy playing with the other children.”
Herman and Raquel Sampson and their three children will gather with their family later in the day but feel it's important to gather with other community members during the holiday.
“We're thankful for our neighbors and our community, and we want to instill that in our children,” Raquel said, pointing to the line of volunteers serving all of the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. “It's also good for them to see the volunteer spirit in action.”
That kind of neighborly interaction is exactly what Jeff Turner had in mind three years ago when he teamed up with John Shales of Shales McNutt Construction, the Salvation Army and the United Way to host the dinner.
Turner, who owns In The Neighborhood Deli, serves turkey and dressing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, beans and salad. Many of the desserts are donated.
He greeted his guests Thursday at the door and estimated he would be serving his largest dinner yet.
“But that's great because that means it's evolving into the community dinner we want it to be,” Turner said.
“There's a misconception that we do this just for homeless or people down on their luck. But we want neighbors to meet neighbors and new friends too.”
Earlier this month, Turner was afraid donations would be low, but he said community members raised more than $2,000 in a week once word spread that the dinner might be in jeopardy.
These dinners have always taken place for free in the lower level of The Hemmens but City Manager Sean Stegall said this is the type of subsidy that would go away based on his proposed budget to the city council. The Hemmens would be run as a rental facility exactly as a private entity would. Stegall said these dinners could continue in The Hemmens, they would just need to pay the rental fee.