Despite the ice and snow prior to Thanksgiving, volunteers from St. Thomas Episcopal Church prepared turkey dinners for more than a thousand needy in Bellevue. It is the sixth year for the feeding program.

Hopelink in Bellevue helped identify those needing help.

“Thanksgiving at St. Thomas” began in 2004 when elementary school teacher and parishioner, Tammy Waddell, thought she and a few fellow volunteers at St. Thomas Episcopal Church should help Eastside people who were coming up short at Thanksgiving.

“I was inspired by a bishop of the Episcopal church to invite less fortunate people to Thanksgiving,” Waddell said. “I thought we could do something like that.”

Her crew bought, cooked and prepared complete turkey dinners for 100 people who had signed up through the Hopelink food bank in Bellevue. On Thanksgiving, they waited for people to show up and have dinner. And they waited. And waited.

That Thanksgiving, only five people came. It became apparent that families preferred to spend the holiday together in the privacy of their own homes. The following year, it was decided that the meals would be delivered.

Fast forward to 2010, with the Eastside in the midst of a three-year economic downturn and an intense snowstorm. This year, Waddell and hundreds of volunteers at St. Thomas prepared a complete meal of Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetables, rolls and pie for more than 1,200 hungry Eastsiders.

“It’s really grown,” said Waddell in her typical understatement. St. Thomas parish is now the largest contributor to Hopelink at Thanksgiving.

The church organization involves hundreds of volunteers and massive planning and logistics for months ahead.

University Prep in Seattle as well as St. Thomas School donates more than 130 pumpkin pies. ConGlobal Industries gave a generous lease to St. Thomas for the use of a 40-foot refrigeration container. More than 200 specially-priced Safeway turkeys were roasted and hundreds of pounds of donated Yukon Gold potatoes from Pioneer Potatoes in the Skagit Valley were cooked and mashed.

Franz Bakery makes dressing and rolls possible. Yams, green beans, black olives and a home-baked pie with whipped cream will round out the menu.

“We never compromise,” Waddell commented. “This is what we would serve our own families at Thanksgiving and it’s a measure of our hospitality that we serve the very best food. We are practicing the hospitality of God.”

Besides the hard work, the recent snowstorm put an additional burden on the operation. After the cold hit, there were questions if the program would be cancelled.

However, parishioners poured into the church’s icy parking lot eager to offer whatever they could do for the Wednesday preparation/cooking day.

“We couldn’t possibly leave 1,200 people without food,” Waddell said.