Posted by Dora Dye on Nov 24, 2022
One of our Club's favorite traditions, dating back over a decade, is to serve a Thanksgiving meal to the participants of The Arc San Francisco and The Salvation Army. Helping out this year were Eric Schmautz, Mary Liu, Greg Gutting, Tim Hornbecker, Peter Logan, Chris Davies, Sunny Singh, Gary Dales, Robin Azevedo, Emily Borland, Frank Yoke, Jim Patrick, JT Forbus, Stephanie Schmautz, Ann Daugherty, Rosemary Welde, Anita Stangl, Clifford Phillips, and Margaret Miley. Joining them were Visiting Rotarian Harry Eng, Visiting Rotarian Brandon Fleming, Past Club President Jimmie Jeffery, Erica Kaplan (Peter Logan's guest), James Wong (Mary Liu's husband), Rosie Liu (Mary Liu's guest), and special guests Molly and Katie Schmautz.
 
On November 21, 2022, a team of Rotarians went grocery shopping. Past Club President and Past District Governor Eric Schmautz got up in the wee hours of November 22, 2022 to lead a team in roasting several hundred pounds of pork shoulder, cooking 100 pounds of carrots, making a mountain of stuffing, preparing gallons of gravy, and decanting gallons of cranberry sauce.
 
 
Teams carved steaming trays of roast pork, sliced pumpkin pies, and organized it all for easy service. Meanwhile, the first group of participants of The Arc gathered at tables throughout the facility. Rotary volunteers delivered plates of food to the appreciative crowd. After they finished their meal, the volunteer staff cleaned and reset the tables and then welcomed in another group of hungry participants.
 
 
Due to COVID precautions, fewer were invited to dine in person this year. Later in the afternoon, meals were delivered to those who could not attend in person. A lot of work, but we brought a smile to each person who received a meal. For many of them, this was the only holiday celebration meal.
 
 
 
Thank you to the San Francisco Rotary Foundation for underwriting the cost of these and other service projects at The Arc San Francisco.