Thanksgiving is a time for people to come together to take part in community, eat food, and talk about everything to be grateful for. This year, as in the past five years, California University of Pennsylvania’s Catholic club is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 19. The dinner is to take place in Roscoe, which is about 15 minutes from the Cal U campus.

      This event is being provided by parishioners from the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in town who volunteers in order to give Cal U students a home cooked meal while being away from home.

         “It’s been a great turn out for many years,” said the Rev. Mike Zavage. “We look forward to providing warm food to students who are waiting to go home for break.”

       The parishioners work the morning of the dinner to make enough food for the students who attend. They also set up the dinner table in a long line and set out fancy silverware for the occasion.

      “Last year the table looked like something from a movie,” said Marie Gruber, sophomore at Cal U and attendee of the dinner. “It was one long table with about 35 students gathered around.”

      Students who attend are asked what they are grateful for and what their prayer intentions are during the holiday.

      “We went around the table and talked about things we appreciated in our lives,” said Gruber. “It really helped in looking at my life in a positive way after the stress of the semester.”

    The dinner helps students who might be feeling homesick and even those who might not have a Thanksgiving dinner to go home to during break. Fellowship in which people are able to come together is also a main goal of having the dinner.

       The food being provided are the typical foods served at Thanksgiving dinners including turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, and more.

    “It provides food to those who might not have it otherwise,” said Gruber. “It is also a great way to grow closer to people.”

        Students will be carpooling for transportation to the rectory house in Roscoe where the dinner is to be held. Those interested are to meet in the Azorsky parking lot and the dinner is to take place at 5 p.m. and will last for as long as people want to stay.

        The students attending are asked to bring a friend to increase the amount of people gathered for the dinner.

      “Everyone is welcome,” said Gruber. “This is Thanksgiving, a time to gather with as many people as possible and to eat as much as possible.”