Northwestern Settlement House, cating company come through with Thanksgiving meal donations

Through its annual donation of Thanksgiving meals, the Northwestern University Settlement House will aid two groups this year.

The Northwestern Settlement, founded in 1891, traditionally serves more than 400 people a Thanksgiving dinner the Tuesday before the holiday. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year that event will not be possible.

Instead, with help of Morton Grove-based Catering By Michaels, 700 boxes of turkey and all the trimmings will be donated.

Each box serves four people, a total of 2,800 people benefiting from the effort.

Thanksgiving meal boxes will be distributed to families from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Northwestern Settlement Gymnasium, 1410 W. Augusta Blvd., Chicago.

Each meal box includes 3.5 pounds of turkey, so that equals a total of 2,450 pounds of turkey.

Happy totals also include 1,400 pounds of stuffing, 1,050 pounds of vegetables, 1,575 pounds of cornbread and, of course, 87.5 gallons of cranberry sauce made from scratch like the rest of Catering By Michaels' offerings.

This donation also enables Catering By Michaels to provide extra work for 15 employees who have been out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hurt the catering industry. These people will work to prepare, cook and pack the meals.

This Thanksgiving donation begins the Winnetka Board of the Northwestern University Settlement House's "Gala to Go," a fundraiser that will be held in February, including boxed meals for families to enjoy at home.

The Northwestern Settlement is a nonprofit organization that offers more than 70 neighborhood programs to help children and families through education, the arts and social services. For more information, visit www.northwestern settlement.org.