Cottage Inn Pizza continues its tradition of free Thanksgiving meals for the less fortunate
Gary Eggeman of Ann Arbor enjoys Thanksgiving dinner at the Cottage Inn Restaurant on William Street in Ann Arbor today.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Today marked the 27th year the popular The Original Cottage Inn Pizza restaurant in Ann Arbor has teamed with local volunteers to provide free Thanksgiving Day dinners.
The restaurant typically serves up to 350 meals using 150 volunteers, although this year's crowd appeared lighter than some past years.
They serve traditional meals — including turkey, side dishes and desserts.
Jean Connell, left, Tim Murphy, center, and Adin Kawate, right, all from Ann Arbor, volunteer their time to help serve up free Thanksgiving Day dinners.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Athina Res, 11, Ann Arbor, writes "Happy Thankgiving" on the dry erase board next to the hostess stand at the Cottage Inn Restaurant on William Street in Ann Arbor.
Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com
Comments
Sallyxyz
Fri, Nov 26, 2010 : 12:34 p.m.
No question that a few children could be present with their smiles, but there should be an age cut off, for example, none younger than 10 years old. Little children standing around staring at homeless folks eating makes everyone uncomfortable. These less fortunate folks are not on "display" for the more fortunate (young children and some adults)to stare at. Sorry, but that's what was happening the last couple years I volunteered at Cottage Inn. Hopefully, Cottage Inn will get better organized in the future and cut off the number of volunteers once their list is a reasonable size, certainly not 150, as was listed in the article this week. That's nearly 2 volunteers for every "patron" and WAY too many volunteers. Years back when I volunteered, there are 50 volunteers at the most and we all were busy, which is what it is about. CI should just direct them to other places in town to sign up to help that day.
Himandme
Fri, Nov 26, 2010 : 9:48 a.m.
Dear Sallyxyz, You are so right about the many helpers, but we do need the children too. They are a blessing to those in need, a bright smile for all involved, plus they need to know they are just like everyone else, with their own special kind of needs. To bad it is not better organized. The poor 3rd world countries do need our help, they don't have the basics like water(clean too), shelter, education, to know God, wouldn't be lovely if we could $pend some of our energy on helping them too.
Sallyxyz
Fri, Nov 26, 2010 : 9:08 a.m.
I volunteering for many years at Cottage Inn, but stopped several years ago when they kept accepting volunteers to the point where there was nothing for everyone to do. The last time I did it, I was just standing around the entire shift, which wasn't fun or interesting at all. I wanted to actively help out, not just stand around. The last year I did it, most volunteers just stood around watching the homeless eat, which was uncomfortable to say the least. Families started volunteering and would bring 5-6 people, including several very young children, who were too small to carry the trays of food and really just got in the way in a busy dining room. I understand that families wanted to show children what volunteering was about, but bringing 5 and 6 year olds to a restaurant to serve food was more about the parents than the children, who were too young to help or even understand what was going on. Cottage Inn is very generous to do this year after year, and I enjoyed my years as a volunteer server in the past when it was a fun and active day. It's too bad that the restaurant has not been able to say "no" to people signing up to volunteer after there are clearly enough volunteers for a shift. It diminishes the experience for all. There are other places in town where volunteers could be used on Thanksgiving.
dading dont delete me bro
Fri, Nov 26, 2010 : 8:25 a.m.
turkey pizza...?