Salvation Army not serving community Thanksgiving meal

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Thanksgiving at the Salvation Army means community, but add it to the list of things canceled by Coronavirus.

We spoke with the Birmingham branch of the Salvation Army which is not holding a traditional dinner this year.

Birmingham’s shelter has not had a COVID-19 case at all this year, and they are doing their best to keep it that way.

The Salvation Army will feed its shelter residents a Thanksgiving meal, but Thanksgiving lunch will not be a large community gathering that welcomes in anyone who needs a hot meal like in years past.

They will continue to implement social distancing and have shelter residents eat in shifts to minimize contact in the community living setting. However, they will not be allowing volunteers.

Through community support, they will still be handing out weekly boxes of food to help those in need to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19.

“If you get it in there it spreads like wildfire, so we are trying to minimize that contact with shelter residents,” Major Powell explained about mitigating risk.

To support their efforts to help people pay bills and get groceries during the pandemic, visit their website here.

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