The 23rd annual Feast of Sharing was held at the Palmer Events Center last Tuesday. Each year, grocery chain H-E-B offers this free Thanksgiving meal in various communities throughout Texas. In Austin, over 1200 volunteers served hot turkey dinners to an estimated 14,000 attendees. Local musicians entertained the diners throughout the evening.

H-E-B knew how to run a well-organized event. Four lines were set up to assemble plates of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, mixed vegetables, a roll, and butter. Everything went smoothly except when a volunteer accidentally dropped a plate of food into a tub of gravy. One line had to be stopped for a few minutes while everyone wiped gravy off their clothes and waited for a replacement tub to be carried in from the staging area.

I was a Table Server. My job was to wait in line for a tray of six plates, carry the tray to a table, distribute the plates, and then get back in line to wait for another tray. Other volunteer assignments included Drinks Server (soda, juice, and water), Desserts Server (pumpkin pie), Clean-up (involved garbage bags), and Table Host (set out clean place settings and greeted diners). Table Hosts also held up signs for “Food” or “Drinks” so the  Servers knew where to deliver. Two thousand diners could be seated at one time so the volunteers were kept busy.