Good will abounds

Warm-hearted volunteers who thought they’d spend Thanksgiving serving others might want to think again.

Across the Inland Northwest, many agencies that dish up free holiday meals say thanks, but they’ve got plenty of help.

“We’ve been full for two weeks,” said Laurie Willson, community relations coordinator for Union Gospel Mission in Spokane.

In fact, Willson reluctantly will spend part of this week calling would-be volunteers to say their services may be needed later, if at all.

“They’re so gracious to want to be a part of things,” said Willson, whose agency uses 50 to 60 volunteers to feed some 300 people the day before Thanksgiving. “I tell them, ‘You are so sweet to volunteer, but we’re already full.’ ”

It’s the same story at the Central United Methodist Church and the VFW in Spokane, where the Ladies Auxiliary has kitchen duty covered, said Dave Davis, the quartermaster.

“Sometimes we run a little short on turkeys, though,” he said. “What we don’t use for Thanksgiving, we’ll keep for Christmas.”

At St. George Catholic Church in Coeur d’Alene, the Rev. William Gould said too many volunteers tend to overrun the tiny church kitchen.

“Once you get beyond a certain number, you get people stepping all over each other,” he said.

Not so at Coeur d’Alene’s St. Vincent de Paul, where volunteer coordinator Dot Clark said, “we don’t turn them away.”

If there are too many volunteers for one task, the organization will direct them to another, Clark said. “We don’t just have one service here at St. Vincent de Paul.”

At Gonzaga University, a cooperative dinner hosted by Sodexho Campus Services, Gonzaga and St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church typically feeds 275 people with the help of 65 to 70 volunteers. On Monday, about 10 slots were still open, but spokesman Don Weber thought they’d be filled pronto.

“We tell people, ‘Do something nice for your neighbor,’ ” he said. ” ‘Maybe there’s a nice elderly lady you can invite over.’ “

The abundance of volunteers shouldn’t discourage those yearning to help during the holidays. At Second Harvest Inland Northwest, donations of turkeys and staples are always welcome, said Executive Director Jason Clark.

The agency distributes 1.4 million pounds of food a month through about 100 area food banks, and they’ll never turn down a donation.

“Whenever the public’s ready to engage, we try to be available,” Clark said, adding later: “People do think of these things at the last minute.”

The agency even accommodates late-breaking generosity with a feature on its Web site – www.2-harvest.org. Visitors can click on an online shopping cart to donate food.

At least one local agency, however, said last-minute volunteers are more than welcome to work. The Salvation Army in Spokane has a wide range of jobs available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving.

“We will take anybody and everybody, as long as they’re adults,” said Carol Flummer, social services program manager. “We can always use more.”