The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission is accepting turkeys, canned food, and monetary donations in preparation for its annual Thanksgiving Feast, 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 24.
The staff and men in the Mission’s 12-month Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program plan to serve more than 300 meals to community members in need. The socially-distanced yet festive holiday event will be held in the Rescue Mission dining hall, 535 E. Yanonali St.
Thanksgiving dinner will include turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, pie, and all the trimmings. About 300 turkeys are needed for all the meals that will be served throughout the holiday season.
“This Thanksgiving season, we expect to serve more than 10,000 meals,” said said Rolf Geyling. “That means we have thousands of opportunities to help people change their lives this holiday season, including 300 just for Thanksgiving alone.”
Donations may be dropped off from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday at the 535 E. Yanonali St. office.
The Santa Barbara Rescue Mission is a 501(c)(3) organization serving the county and city of Santa Barbara for 56 years, providing emergency services and long-term recovery for the homeless and addicted. With 94 beds for men and 34 for women, it is the only emergency shelter open 365 nights from Santa Maria to Ventura.
In a typical year, the Mission provides140,000 meals and 50,000 safe nights of shelter for individuals with no place else to turn in a typical year. The Mission’s 12-month residential recovery program aims to bring individuals from decades of addiction, institutionalization, and homelessness back to sobriety, health, and wholeness. The Mission receives no government funding.
Due to COVID-19 guidelines, the Rescue Mission will wait until closer to the event date to decide whether to include volunteers.