Media Advisory: Eastern to host major community Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 22
17th annual Day of Giving prepares to serve 400
Willimantic, CT (11/13/2023) — Eastern Connecticut State University will host a traditional Thanksgiving meal for the community during its 17th annual Day of Giving on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Hurley Hall. Upwards of 400 residents from the Willimantic community who might otherwise not have a Thanksgiving meal are expected to attend.
The meal will be served continuously from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Eastern will provide shuttle buses from Ashton Towers (at 10:45 a.m.), Father Honan Terrace (at 11:10 a.m.) and the Covenant Soup Kitchen (at 11:30 p.m. and noon). Residents from the Windham Senior Center also will attend. Parking is available on campus and accessible parking is available at the Student Center lot.
Food for the annual celebration is donated by the ECSU Foundation and prepared by Chartwells, Eastern's food service provider. The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at Eastern will staff the event with student volunteers, many of whom also volunteer at agencies and schools in the community. The CCE is working with Arka Mikel, resident service coordinator for the Willimantic Housing Authority; Kate McCarthy Cox, program coordinator for the Windham Senior Center; and Kim Clark, executive director of the Covenant Soup Kitchen.
"The Day of Giving provides a wonderful Thanksgiving meal to many Willimantic residents," said Lana O'Connor, CCE director. "The CCE provides student volunteers to help out with the day, doing such things as greeting and directing guests, providing assistance for guests with mobility issues, and clearing and resetting tables, but most importantly, the students get to engage and talk with community members.
"It truly is a feel-good event for everyone," O'Connor said. "This event is a collaboration between Eastern's Office of Institutional. Advancement, CCE and Chartwells and wouldn't be successful without the help of everyone, including Eastern faculty, staff, administration, students and our community partners in Willimantic."
The Day of Giving was first held in 2007 and, after an interruption from COVID-19, returned to campus last year.
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Eastern Connecticut State University is the state of Connecticut's public liberal arts university, serving upwards of 4,000 students annually on its Willimantic campus. In addition to attracting students from 160 of Connecticut's 169 towns, Eastern also draws students from 30 states and eight countries. A residential campus offering 41 majors and 68 minors, Eastern offers students a strong liberal arts foundation grounded in a variety of applied learning opportunities. Ranked among the top 20 public institutions in the North by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022-23 Best Colleges ratings, Eastern has also been awarded 'Green Campus' status by the Princeton Review 13 years in a row. For more information, visit www.easternct.edu.
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