Volunteers strive to make holiday feasts accessible to all.

For many people, this is the time of year to trade recipes (some very committed home cooks even practice them ahead), determine just how many potatoes you need to serve a crowd and read up on how to roast a turkey without drying it out.

For many other people, it’s a season of poignant awareness of that which they do not have – the ability to sit around a table and host a big feast. Celebrating Thanksgiving in the classic American way (along with other holidays) requires resources.

For those who don’t have the ability to shop for groceries and cook, or go out to a restaurant, or order in, throngs of volunteers step up to share the spirit of the season. For a feast hosted by The Angel Project in Carmel Valley, Darrell Richards will start by preparing a butter with herbs and spices to rub under the skin of some two-dozen turkeys to marinate them overnight. He’ll butterfly those turkeys, removing the spines to help them roast faster. And by the time a small army of volunteers arrives to help prepare a meal for up to 450 in the kitchen of Sanctuary Bible Church in Carmel Valley, he says it will be relatively repetitive work on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 20-21, in preparation for the meal on Wednesday, Nov. 22. Roast, cool, carve, repeat.

Richards, now a leak detection specialist, has experience in professional kitchens, hence he is in charge of the turkey preparation. He’s also a member of the Carmel Valley Kiwanis Club, which is responsible for the food prep, cooking, service and cleanup at this year’s Angel Project Thanksgiving meal, followed by delivery of about 85 meals to residents of the low-income Rippling River housing community.

“It’s just one of those things I am going to do because I know it needs to be done and I can do it,” Richards says.

There was a time, many years ago, that Richards was recently separated and new to Carmel Valley. Money was lean and Christmas was coming. He just happened to stop into the Angel Project’s store, where he got connected to food for the holiday and gifts for his two children. Seemingly simple things, but for his family during lean times, it made a world of difference. “They helped me out a tremendous amount,” Richards says. “It was just really special.”

Massive meal preparation and service on this scale takes coordination, and organizations like local Kiwanis clubs are experienced in that. The Carmel Valley Kiwanis Club recently grilled burgers and brats for 500 people at a Porsche Club event; Thanksgiving for 400-plus is in their wheelhouse. Still, board member Alan Crockett says, when the Angel Project first called about Thanksgiving three years ago, some members were a little bit skeptical: “It was like, are you kidding, 400-plus meals?”

The concept has evolved, Crockett says, “from meal to feast.” That means bigger portions of course, in keeping with the spirit of the holiday. “We want to make sure people are stuffed,” Crockett says. It also means from-scratch preparation – you will find no cans here, but you will find contributions from celebrated local chefs like Tim Wood (stuffing), Todd Fisher (gravy and mashed potatoes) and the Hacienda’s catering arm (green beans). The Kiwanians and fellow volunteers, including local high school students, are on for the turkeys and cranberry sauce that yes, starts with raw cranberries.

Meanwhile, the Monterey Kiwanis Club is keeping up its pandemic-era tradition of a drive-thru Thanksgiving meal, offered in partnership with the Food Bank for Monterey County and the City of Monterey. (Pre-pandemic, it was a sit-down meal at the Fairgrounds.)

They plan to distribute 1,000 meal kits on Wednesday, Nov. 22 – of those, 600 are portioned for six to eight people. Fire departments from Marina, Seaside and Monterey will follow with 35 deliveries to homebound residents.

People signed up right away when the drive-thru was announced, says Monterey Recreation Manager Shannon Leon. “It filled within 24 hours this year, the fastest it has ever happened,” she says. “The economy is still a huge factor.”

A decadent dinner may feel like a simple thing when you’re in a position to prepare one. For those who are not, hundreds of volunteers will be prepping and cooking for days to make this simple thing available to all.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com