(828) 693-5115 (Option 1)
How could we possibly have a Christmas dinner without preparing food? Frozen turkeys, beef brisket and "bone-in" smoked hams will be appreciated as donations on the scheduled drop-off day and time. Volunteers will be available to receive them. If you would like to donate either a frozen turkey, beef brisket or ham, please drop it off at the Immaculata School gymnasium during the designated drop-off time as indicated on the Schedule page.
33 BUSHELS of beans to snap and "de-string".
(It's a Bean-Fest!)
All other food items needed for the Bounty Christmas dinner are purchased locally with some of the monetary donations.
There is a "job" for anyone who would like to help. Many people who volunteer one time, find the experience so rewarding that they return year after year.
Some of our volunteers, for whatever reason, would have been alone on Christmas day. Bounty provides them an opportunity to spend time with others. Some just feel that they are "giving something back" to Henderson County. Regardless of their reasons, they become one of the most valuable resources, which allow this wonderful event to take place every year. Bounty could not function without them.
Gabriela & Lucas Jones color bags for the rolls
There's always something to do for any volunteer, no matter their age. Here, our very youngest volunteers, Gabriela & Lucas Jones are coloring the bags in which rolls will be delivered to home-bound meal recipients on Christmas Day.
Sweet potatoes! Everywhere!!!
880 pounds of sweet potatoes have all been washed, scrubbed and prepared for cooking. This task provides LOTS of fun and opportunity for good companianship.
A thousand pounds of potatoes to be peeled, cooked and mashed. Would you believe that with enough volunteers this pile of potatos will be ready for cooking in about two hours? Well, don't just sit there! Grab a peeler and let's get started!
67 oranges are used in the cranberry sauce recipe!
Oranges are a "secret" ingrediant in the cranberry sauce recipe. It gives it a little "tang." The juice is saved, then the peels are diced, boiled, and added to the sauce to give it a little something "special!" But don't tell anyone. It's a secret!
Lot's of fun, and it smells great!
Cranberries! LOTS of cranberries! One hundred POUNDS of cranberries! They all have to be 'de-bagged' (I just invented that word...) and checked to make sure they're all of the best quality. Combined with all of the other ingredients, they will yield 35 gallons of cranberry sauce!
Chopping the fresh herbs. Mmmmmm! Smells great!
The herbs for for the stuffing are fresh, Fresh, FRESH!!! They are all chopped by hand, and this is another job for volunteers. It smells GREAT!!! We really MEAN it when we say this is a fresh cooked dinner!
Jim Donico checks the turkeys.
The smoker holds about 64 turkeys at once. Jim Donico checks the temprature to make sure they are fully cooked. They sure look great!
Amanda Gaines stirs the "gravy train!"
The gravy is fresh made, and after it is cooked, it must be cooled before being put into the refrigerated truck. The gravy pots are placed into buckets of ice and stirred to help the process along. Here, Amanda Gaines stirs the 'gravy train!'
The turkeys are cooked, and ready to be carved! They look, smell, and TASTE great!
Deborah Tomchuk carves a turkey
with the precision of a Samurai swordsman!
After the turkeys are cooked in the smoker, they have to be carved. Watching someone who knows how to do it right, is amazing!
Everyone gets together for some fun preparing the sweet potatoes!
The sweet potatoes are cooked, and now it's time to scoop them out of their skin. They will eventually be combined with the glaze, and words cannot describe how good they taste! Everyone seems to be enjoying this part of the preparation!
Charles Pace manages the "walk-in refrigerator."
To keep all of the food cold, a large refrigerator is needed. Bounty uses a refrigerated truck to hold all of the food! Charles Pace returns every year to manage the refrigerated truck.
Food stored in the refrigerated truck!
As the food is prepared, it must be put in the 'refrigerator.' Shelves are set up inside the truck, and filled with trays of mashed & sweet potatos, green beans, gravy, cranberry sauce and everything else to make the Bounty Of Bethlehem dinner a true feast!
If you would like to volunteer to help prepare food, call the Bounty Hotline, (which will be activated shortly before Thanksgiving) at 693-5115 and leave a message in mailbox number 1. Or, you may attend the volunteer sign-up meeting at the Immaculata School gymnasium. Details will pe bublished in the local media prior to the event, and also on our Schedule page. Remember, without volunteers, there would be no Bounty Of Bethlehem Christmas Dinner.