Happy Thanksgiving from Denver Rescue Mission!

Thanks to the generous supporters in our community, our 2019 Turkey Drive was a huge success, bringing in more than 16,000 turkeys! Those turkeys were put to good use yesterday at both our Thanksgiving Banquet-in-a-Box event and our Great Thanksgiving Banquet at the Lawrence Street Community Center:

Thanksgiving Banquet-in-a-Box

Due to the snowstorm on Monday night, our Thanksgiving Banquet-in-a-Box event was rescheduled for Wednesday morning. Despite the cold, we were prepared at Empower Field at Mile High with 3,000 boxes of food to distribute to families and individuals in need.

The Thanksgiving Banquet-in-a-Box event provides a traditional Thanksgiving meal to individuals and families in need who are not homeless but are struggling. Each person who arrived was greeted by our staff and volunteers who cheerfully filled each car with a turkey and a box of traditional Thanksgiving meal items.

Thanks to donors like you, families and individuals who would otherwise struggle this holiday season are able to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Their smiles show just how thankful they are for you this Thanksgiving.

The Great Thanksgiving Banquet

We also had a special Thanksgiving banquet yesterday at the Lawrence Street Community center, serving 805 meals to our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness and poverty. This annual banquet is more than just a meal for our guests experiencing homelessness. It’s the opportunity to provide them with a Thanksgiving experience with hopes of creating long-term changes. 

The menu for the banquet included:

  • Roasted Turkey
  • Mashed potatoes and gravy
  • Cornbread stuffing
  • Cranberry sauce
  • Ambrosia salad
  • Green bean casserole
  • Sweet potato casserole
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Cheesecake
  • Dinner rolls with honey-almond butter

We were honored to have Governor Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock join us in hosting the special meal, as well as many other special guests, including:

Christine Chang, former Denver Channel 7 anchor; Kim Christiansen, 9News; Kyle Clark, 9News; Kasey Cordell, 5280; Denver Fire Department; John Hickenlopoer, former Colorado Governor; Councilman Paul Kashmann; Elisabeth Monaghan, The Denver Voice; Denver Division Police Chief Joe Montoya; Councilwoman at Large Debbie Ortega; Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen; Dahlia Singer, freelance writer; Councilwoman Jamie Torres; Anne Trujillo, Denver Channel 7; Lauren Whitney, CBS4.

All these Thanksgiving services are only possible because of supporters like you. Thank you for helping us make this Thanksgiving extra special for our neighbors and friends who are experiencing homelessness.

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.