WabiSabi’s annual Thanksgiving dinner is now in its 18th year: The meal is intended to give everyone in the community a holiday dinner, especially those who might otherwise have no way to celebrate.
“It’s a staple in the community,” said Leah Bear, WabiSabi’s general manager. WabiSabi will deliver or provide pick-up locations for the meals.
This year, a national turkey shortage and local staffing issues left the dinner’s future uncertain, but WabiSabi is working with The Synergy Company and Canyon Steak and Waffle House to give away 275 free meals to people who need them, Bear said.
The meal is a bit nontraditional—lasagna, salad, and garlic bread—but Bear said she’s just glad WabiSabi will be able to provide anything at all.
“With COVID and the unknown, to be able to still have it go on at whatever scale it may be, I think it’s amazing,” she said.
WabiSabi also teamed up with The Moab Manna project, led by Nathan James, a pastor at the Moab Seventh-day Adventist Church. The project grows potatoes to deliver to community members, food banks, and the Navajo Nation: In 2020, the year the project started, volunteers produced nearly 30,000 pounds of potatoes. Along with the Thanksgiving meal, people will also receive a share of locally grown potatoes from Moab Manna.
Meals will be deliverd on Thanksgiving Day from 12 to 4 p.m., and will also have a pick-up station at Canyon Steak and Waffle (196 S. Main St.). Bear said they have quite a few volunteers already signed up to help spread the holiday spirit.
To request a meal personally, or to request a meal for someone else, people can call WabiSabi at 435-259-3313, email admin@wabisabimoab.org, or visit the thrift store at 160 E. 100 S.
