Countywide : Donations Sought for Holiday Dinner

The Zoe Christian Center in Oxnard is seeking the public’s help with a massive dinner the homeless shelter is planning for Thanksgiving Day.

For starters, the center needs 50 hams to feed the 1,000 homeless and hungry people they expect, said Gloria Gilmer, a spokeswoman for Need Program Inc., the group that is organizing the dinner at the center.

Shelter workers also need donations of 50 boxes of stuffing mix, 70 boxes of instant potatoes and 30 large cans of prepared gravy, Gilmer said.

Other items needed are 50 large cans of yams, 70 pies, cakes and cookies, 1,000 dinner rolls, four six-pound cans of cranberry sauce and 20 gallons of fruit punch syrup, Gilmer said. Donations of paper plates, plastic foam cups, plastic forks and knives and napkins will also be accepted, she said.

The items most desperately needed are hams, stuffing and potatoes, Gilmer said.

People may donate the food and serving ware as late as Thanksgiving morning, she said. The dinner will be served by about 20 volunteers at the center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Gilmer said. Donations should be dropped off at the center at 605 S. Rose Ave.

For more information, call 483-0570 or 483-3857.

Thanksgiving Dinners Thanksgiving dinner for the needy will be served in Ventura County at the following locations and times:

Today Location: Ventura County Rescue Mission, 234 E. 6th St., Oxnard Time: Noon to 2 p.m. Number of Meals: 300 to 500 Thursday, Thanksgiving Day Location: Knights of Columbus Hall, 36 S. Figueroa Plaza, Ventura Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Number of Meals: 800 Location: St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Parish Hall, 130 W. Ojai Ave., Ojai Time: Noon to 3 p.m. Number of Meals: 200 Location: Zoe Christian Center, 605 S. Rose Ave., Oxnard Time: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Number of Meals: 1,000 Location: World University, 107 N. Ventura St., Ojai Time: 1 to 4 p.m. Number of Meals: 200 Friday Location: Moose Lodge 1394, 10269 Telephone Road, Ventura Time: 1 to 4 p.m. Number of Meals: 200