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Yearly Dinner Sees Volunteers Brave Icy Roads, Sidewalks

WILKES-BARRE–The Luzerne County Commission on Economic Opportunity needed volunteers to bring Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins this year more than ever. Not...

WILKES-BARRE--The Luzerne County Commission on Economic Opportunity needed volunteers to bring Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins this year more than ever.

Not because more people in need asked for a special meal, but because this Thanksgiving looks more like Christmas, and the Commission needed volunteers to risk driving on snowy and icy roads.

"My husband and I decided to come down today and help," said Carly Ellman of Dallas, one of a handful of  drivers believing the cold-weather ride was worth it.

And after the drive, she had to negotiate slippery sidewalks just to get a meal to someone spending Thanksgiving alone, or to a family who can`t afford even a basic dinner.

Another group of volunteers spend the day, indoors at the First Presbyterian Church on South Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre.

"Another part of our Thanksgiving project," according to the Commission's
Volunteer Coordinator King Adjei-Frimpong, who made sure his volunteers turned out turkey dinners that had the look and the taste of a homemade feast.

He doesn`t know how many gave part of their holiday to stay in a church kitchen. He only knows he had more volunteers than expected.

"It`s a little overwhelming how many people are interested in giving back to the community, said Adjei-Frimpong.  "So when we first started, we finished up with the first half of the project in like, maybe a half an hour.  So that`s like record time, right?"

Carly Ellman spent time in the kitchen sharing the spirit of Thanksgiving with other volunteers.

And she spent time on the road with her husband delivering homemade meals to people who don`t have as much to be thankful for.

"The need is there, and it`s doing a lot for the families that don`t have anyone to spend it with," Ellman said.

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