If you are in need of putting some food on the table this Thanksgiving, some area churches can lend you a helping hand. According to ABC News, the average cost of your Thanksgiving meal is between $80 and $95, depending on the brands you use. That is down two to three percent from 2024, but still could be more than a family could afford.

Kewaunee’s Immanuel Lutheran Church found that to be the case this year, assembling more than 130 Thanksgiving meal bags for community members after distributing about 100 last year. The bags they are passing out this weekend to pre-registered families contain a cooked ham and the ingredients for side dishes a novice chef could handle. Pastor Matthew Sprunger says the service project was a great way for his congregation to share their blessings with the community.

For many people, Thanksgiving could be a lonely time too. According to the Pew Research Center, about five percent of people plan to have Thanksgiving dinner alone while another two percent do not have a plan because of work, travel, or other reasons. For the last several years, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Algoma has hosted a Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving Day from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. where people can drop by and have a meal with each other or pick one up to bring home. Pastor Joel McKenney says the event keeps growing every year, with hundreds attending every year. He adds that it has become a special day for people dining and volunteering alike.

The granddaddy of them all could be in Sturgeon Bay where the Sturgeon Bay United Methodist Church has hosted their community Thanksgiving dinner for 45 years. The traditional meal is served in the church’s Fellowship Hall and delivered to community members who are homebound. The meals are free, like Jesus’ salvation, but the churches encourage donations to support the cause. You can click on the links above for more information and to sign-up.