Samaritan Medical Center cooks up 300 Thanksgiving feasts

WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) - Staff at Samaritan Medical Center got to work early Thursday morning to help get more than 300 meals ready to hit the road.

“It’s just a great way to give back to the community,” Samaritan president and CEO Tom Carmen said. “There are so many people that are in need, and there always have been. We’re seeing numbers this year that are greater than in the past.”

For the 22nd year, feast mode was activated at Samaritan Medical Center. Staff worked together to get hundreds of Thanksgiving dinners ready to go out the door. The food went from the hospital’s cafeteria to people’s front doors as part of its Meals on Wheels program.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes went out to about 350 people in the city of Watertown. Those picking up meals took anywhere between 10 and 20 meals at a time.

The dinners went out to people throughout the community, like seniors, but also to those who might not have access to a homemade Thanksgiving dinner. The Meals on Wheels is an annual holiday tradition, for both the hospital and its staff.

“So, when I got home this morning, I throw my turkey in the oven, and it was like 8:30 a.m.” Thelma Mathison said. “I woke the girls up and was like ‘hey do you remember we have to go volunteer,’ and both were, like, ‘yeah, let’s go do it,’ so here we are.”

<Kristi Whitfield- Nutritionist, Samaritan Medical Center>

“Something we look forward to and get prepare for and we discuss it every year,” nutritionist Kristi Whitfield said, “so it’s a great thing to do with our family, and after we go home and know we have done something great for our community.”

Volunteers had been working all week to get the more than 300 meals prepped, cooked, and out the door.

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