Community dinner: Monitor Inn hosts feast for the neighbors

By Jay Shenai

The Monitor community is gathering on Saturday, Nov. 21, to share a hearty Thanksgiving dinner together and to help their neighbors who are having a tough time. The dinner is from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Monitor Inn.

For Cindy McGinnis, a bartender who helped coordinate the event, it was watching area farmers cope with the economic downturn that moved her to help local families in need.

“Farmers helped each other with their harvests this year and shared resources to help weather the current economic climate,” she said. “We wanted to make sure we did that for our customers and everybody around us. We’re not trying to give a handout; we’re just trying to give a hand up to anybody who might need it.”

With advice and direction from organizers at Silverton Together and Silverton Area Community Aid, McGinnis, along with friends and former Monitor Inn employees Kaaren Toureen and Lea Gosney; started a non-profit group – Friends Helping New Friends. They also got help from local charities and community organizations to identify families who need assistance.

They solicited businesses and residents in the community to donate time and materials. The Woodburn Safeway supermarket donated 10 crates of stuffing; Monitor resident Johnny Annen will contribute his time and use of his grill to roast the turkeys. Other volunteers helped with signs and advertising.

“If it all comes together and it all works out, it’ll be fantastic,” Gosney said. “I’d feel so wonderful.”
This year they were driven to do more than just donate money, McGinnis said, and eventually planning the event took on a life of its own.

“This is far more motivating,” she said.

McGinnis, Gosney and Toureen spent more than three months coordinating the charity event and securing all the food needed to serve a large anticipated crowd, including an estimated 15 turkeys, or 200 pounds of turkey meat. McGinnis eve bought 100 pounds of potatoes money she made in tips.

“I’m just really glad that we’re getting to help a lot of people, because there’s been a lot of times where I know I’ve needed help,” she said.

For Gosney, who describes herself as living in a low-income household, taking part in Friends Helping New Friends has been a rewarding experience. “I really feel great about being able to give back,” she said.

She can’t afford to give a lot of money, she said, “but I’ve got cans on my shelf” to give to others.

Monitor Inn owner Tony Doody put more than 80 hours of his time into preparing the dinner. He anticipated that the buffet would lose a little money for the Inn, but it is a price he was more than willing to pay, he said.

He has received help from his neighbors in the past, he said, sometimes in the form of labor when his equipment needed repairs or maintenance and money was tight.

“My customers are locals, they’re my life blood,” he said. “Sometimes they fall on hard times.”

The group hopes for a large turnout Saturday. “It’s the right thing to do,” McGinnis said.

Doody added, “Besides, it’s a deal too good to pass up. You can’t buy a whole turkey dinner anywhere for five bucks.” he said.