All are welcome to attend a free community Thanksgiving meal that will be offered at Hopewell Church, 2286 Hopewell Road, Elverson, on Thursday, Nov. 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In addition, those who are unable to attend in person and who live within 5 miles of the church may have a free meal delivered. Meal deliveries will begin at 12:30 p.m. Takeout meal deliveries must be ordered in advance.

The first-time event is being organized by congregation member Misty Stoltzfus. "It was a vision I had. I have been wanting to do (a Thanksgiving meal) for the community for a long time, and I was (surprised) to learn that others in the church felt the same way," she shared, noting that her father passed away on Thanksgiving several years ago. "This was another way to honor him. It was something I wanted to do anyway, and I felt this was the right thing to do."

At first, she said, the event was targeted to local senior citizens, but the effort has expanded to make the meal welcoming to all, including local families, those living alone and those without family nearby.

"The whole idea is to (offer) ... a place where they can come to eat and fellowship with people and not feel alone on Thanksgiving," Stoltzfus stated. "(Some) people may not have places to go on Thanksgiving, (or) college students may not be able to go home."

The meal will include turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls and beverages. Homemade pumpkin pie, apple pie and cookies will be served for dessert.

"We have a guy on our team who is a chef and works for a catering company," said Stoltzfus, noting that the turkeys and potatoes have been donated. "He will come that Tuesday (before Thanksgiving) and prepare the turkeys. We will be peeling potatoes and doing a lot of prep work the day before."

The meal will be served in the church's fellowship hall. "We are going to have (diners) come through the line, but we will serve them, and they can go back to their tables to eat," Stoltzfus noted.

Leftover food will go to the Hope Rescue Mission in Reading.

About 50 congregation members have volunteered to help with meal preparation, serving and cleanup. Organizers have also placed posters at local sites, which feature a QR code that allows people to register to attend. Posters can be found at Joanna Store, 1102 Elverson Road, Morgantown; the Village Library, 207 N. Walnut St., Morgantown; and Honey Brook Community Library, 687 Compass Road, Honey Brook.

People may also register to attend the event or order a takeout meal by emailing Marian Gehman at mariang@hopewellchurch.org or calling the church office at 610-286-6308. The registration deadline is Friday, Nov. 19.