Big hearts, full plates

In extolling the goodwill of North Idahoans, Michael and Vickie Hillicoss would top the list.

Over the last dozen Thanksgivings, the Hillicoss family has witnessed the community take charge in providing thousands of meals of immense proportions on the official holiday – 30-odd turkeys and 600 meals served last year alone.

While the Center for Spiritual Living’s free Thanksgiving Day meal began as a much smaller dinner for those in need 12 years ago, it’s since grown into a full-service operation that serves more than 100 people.

The Hillicoss family, coordinators and co-founders of the event held at the Lake City Senior Center in Coeur d’Alene, has seen countless acts of charity and community kindness.

Each year, community members and local businesses step up to provide the meals and funding to make the dinner happen, while volunteers devote dozens of man-hours serving meals as guests share in the feast among friends, family, neighbors and strangers.

“Our vision for this day is to provide a quality, full-service sit-down meal to anyone and everyone who could possibly benefit from a free meal in a warm, loving and friendly environment,” said Michael Hillicoss. “It’s grown every year, so there’s obviously a need there for it.”

As the Thanksgiving custom matures, with last year’s serving totals including more than 10 hams, 40-plus pies and case after case of stuffing, it’s one of several free dinners area communities provide to anyone on the official holiday. St. George’s Catholic Church in Post Falls has hosted a meal for 20 years out of the Friendship Kitchen in the building’s basement, and Lutheran Church of the Master in Coeur d’Alene is offering a community dinner, too.

While the dinners of turkey, pies, green beans, candied yams and all the other fixings are provided for anyone in the community, Hillicoss said the target guests are homeless, elderly, homebound, disabled or others who might be alone on the holiday. The goal, he added, is to provide a family atmosphere for everyone, especially those in need.

The couple started the Thanksgiving Day Free Meal in 1998 after moving to the area and wanting to volunteer on the holiday. There weren’t many options available at the time, Hillicoss said. “That’s really the reason we started it. We both wanted to volunteer and there really was no place to serve.”

While the event coordinators are still accepting donations of pies, hams and money, since they are about $1,000 short of the $2,800 spent last year to finance the event, they’ve already had to turn down volunteers this year. That’s because there simply isn’t enough room in the kitchen, he added.

“We have all the turkeys we need, but we still need pies and money,” he said.

To make a donation, items can be brought to the Center for Spiritual Living at 618 Wallace Ave. in Coeur d’Alene, or to the Lake City Senior Center on Thanksgiving. For more information, contact Hillicoss at (509) 226-3208 or (208) 687-3193.

Donna Lynn, coordinator for the dinner at St. George’s, said they expect another big turnout from volunteers and guests. The Thanksgiving dinner is being hosted again by the Knights of Columbus.

“It’s grown every year,” she said, adding that last year 156 meals were served, with dozens of parishioners helping out. “It’s wonderful; all our parishioners are very generous.”

Donations of pies are being accepted. They currently have enough turkeys, and the church could use a new freezer or the money to buy one since the old freezer recently broke down, Lynn said.

The Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene groups also will be delivering to Meals on Wheels clients.