Hundreds of paper leaves line the main entryway to Bob Evans restaurant in Osage Beach.
Stating family names, heartfelt messages and even "Batman" as contributors, the leaves symbolize a monetary donation given this fall to the national restaurant chain's "BE Kind" initiative, Hunger Free Communities.
"We have done this here for the last several years, however, this year it really took off," said David Price, general manager at Bob Evans in Osage Beach. "Our customers have raised a little more than $4,000 in donations."
This year, that money will produce and provide approximately 51 complete Thanksgiving dinners, with each dinner serving eight people, to clients through the Eldon Community Food Pantry.
"This is the first year we have partnered with the Eldon Food Pantry, and we are excited about being able to donate this many meals for families in need at Thanksgiving," Price said.
Price said, with the donations, Bob Evans in Osage Beach was able to purchase the food for the meals through its supplier. Restaurant staff then volunteered to prepare the meals a few days before the donation is made to the local partnering food pantry.
"We have about four volunteers from our staff who are also coming in (in advance) to assist in preparing all the meals," said Kasey L. Stafford, assistant general manager at Bob Evans in Osage Beach. "It's about a three-day process to get everything cooked. Then we have to pack it up, and D & D Ice Inc., out of Pleasant Hope, is storing the food in its freezer trucks and will transport them to Eldon Food Pantry (today)."
Price said each of the Thanksgiving meals includes turkey breast, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, gravy, rolls, pumpkin bread and a whole pumpkin pie. Stafford said they also do the same campaign for Christmas and Easter each year.
In preparation for distributing the meals, Eldon Community Food Pantry Manager Scherry Branstetter said she has asked larger families, mostly with children, to put their names into a box for a drawing to receive a meal. She said the stipulation for a family entering the drawing was to be reached by phone and pick up the meal on Monday, a normal day for food distribution to clients. Before Monday, Branstetter said they will draw the names and contact those families to make arrangements.
"We will probably have about 60 to 70 families who come in on Monday to pick up food," she said. "In addition to the donated Thanksgiving meals from Bob Evans, Cargill has also given us 50 medium-size turkeys. We also have 20 boneless pre-cooked hams to distribute to families; a lot of people don't know how to prepare a turkey and prefer ham. Those receiving a meal from Bob Evans also won't get a turkey. This way we can spread it around a bit more to make sure every family gets a nice meal or meat for the holiday."
Branstetter said they have had a lot of families come in this month, with statistics showing they will probably exceed the amount of families receiving food from the Eldon Community Food Pantry over the last month.
"We had 657 families come into the food pantry last month. So far this month we have had 609 come in," she said on Thursday. "We sometimes have the police department call for a family in need of emergency food, with about five or six families in need of those services around the holiday."
Branstetter said they usually get meat for families on a regular basis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and work out other food for clients through the Community Food Bank in Columbia. However, she said the pantry did buy 300 pounds of hamburger in 1-pound packages families during November.
She said a lot of the needs are the same for families throughout the year, and donations are always accepted. They receive a lot of requests for instant potatoes and instant milk, as well as jelly and cereal. Branstetter said they also need peanut butter, canned fruit or canned vegetables, and anything fresh such as apples or oranges.
"We also see our community holding more food drives around the holidays, as well. McDonald's (in Eldon) recently held a food drive, and many churches and civic organizations such as the Lions and Kiwanis clubs hold food drives, as well. The community is really good to us."
The Eldon Community Food Pantry is open from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. every Monday, and the first and second Wednesday of each month. It is located at 312 E. 2nd St. in Eldon. For more information, call 573-392-8380 or visit www.eldoncommunityfoodpantry.com.
For more information about Bob Evans or its BE Kind initiative, visit www.bobevans.com.