Elgin’s Thanksgiving dinner in need of donations

Jeff Turner wants this year’s Elgin Community Thanksgiving Dinner to be bigger than ever.

For that, he’ll need many more donors to help reach the goal of feeding 1,500 people.

Turner owns In the Neighborhood delis in Elgin and East Dundee. His wife and their business partners, Candice Gillen and Toby Eshelman, are also involved in the initiative to serve the fifth annual dinner at First United Methodist Church in Elgin.

Turner said he initially was seeking $5,000 in donations, but then Dan Herzog of the volunteer Christian organization Food For Friends stepped in to donate 100, 12-pound turkeys.

“When you take that out, we’re probably at a financial goal of around $3,000,” he said.

So far, collections are just halfway to the goal, Turner said.

“We’re not quite as good as normal,” he said. “Most of the people that have donated in the past have come through, but I haven’t heard from a couple of our donors yet. It’s never a sure thing, depending how people’s finances are at the time.”

Everyone, no matter their economic status, is welcome at the dinner, Turner emphasized.

“The biggest thing is I want people to know is it’s a community dinner — it’s not just for the less fortunate,” he said.

“I want everyone to come and meet friends. What I always say is, ‘We all bleed red.’”

Last year, 700 people attended the dinner. The initiative fed another 200 or so through meals delivered to various organizations.

The biggest crowd in the past was 1,400 people at the Hemmens Cultural Center, Turner said.

For the fourth year, Grand Victoria Casino executive chef Glenn Keenan and his kitchen team will cook the turkeys.

Elgin resident Anthony Pedote and A#1 Cab Dispatch in South Elgin are also partners in the initiative, Turner said.

The Elgin Community Thanksgiving Dinner is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 28, at First United Methodist Church, 216 E. Highland Ave. in Elgin.

There are enough volunteers. Monetary donations should be made payable to the Elgin Community Network and mailed or dropped at In The Neighborhood Deli, 185 N. Edison Ave., Elgin Ill. 60123; cash donations are accepted.

Dessert donations can dropped off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27 at In The Neighborhood Deli or between 8 to 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day at the church.