La Pine Community Kitchen welcomes all to Thanksgiving meal

The kitchen fed about 200 people Wednesday

La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The La Pine Community Kitchen is open five days a week and typically serves traditional food. But on the day before Thanksgiving, the kitchen hosted a special community meal for area residents.

About 15 extra volunteers were on hand to help the kitchen pass out food. The kitchen employs three part-time employees. One of them, Philip Keifer, said he doesn’t see his job as work.

"Someone said a long time ago, ‘If you enjoy what you're doing it's not work,’” Keifer said.  “And that's the way it is here. It's just something we enjoy doing, giving back to the community and the people."

Staff at the community kitchen spent a couple weeks preparing for the Thanksgiving meal.  

The kitchen changed management at the beginning of this September. That led some residents to believe it may be closing down. Since then, the kitchen has been open five days a week, Monday through Friday, to hand out not just food but also winter clothing and hygiene products.

"I’m very thankful that there is still a kitchen down here,” La Pine resident Shawn Ringer said. “I don't know how rough it is for them, but I know La Pine is kind of rough sometimes."

The kitchen said they served about 200 people during the Thanksgiving celebration.

For more information: https://lapinecommunitykitchen.org/