For more than three decades, those that come out for the United Way of the Yampa Valley’s community Thanksgiving dinner have discovered a place to get a warm holiday meal with all the fixings served, alongside a huge helping of togetherness.

“We are welcoming everyone to this dinner,” said Erin Walker, Routt County impact manager. “We want to bring everybody together as a community. It’s for anybody who’s alone on the holidays, anyone who’s experiencing food insecurity and just anyone who wants to join us for the holiday.”

The dinner, which takes place 1-5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 28 at the Steamboat Springs Community Center, 1605 Lincoln Ave., is open to everyone in Routt and Moffat counties. Mountain Valley Bank and many other organizations and individuals donate money, food and time to the long-running event that has become a holiday tradition.

Walker said the event has plenty of volunteers to prepare and serve the food for this year’s dinner but is still looking for a few more people willing to donate mashed potatoes, mixed greens and salad dressing and sweet potatoes. Interested individuals can visit UnitedWayoftheYampaValley.givepulse.com/event/506350-Volunteer-and-Food-Donations-Community-Thanksgiving-Dinner-2024.

Walker said organizers are expecting to see more people this year are set up to serve 750 people in 2024.

“We had about 650 people last year, and with the increase in the request for food assistance at the food bank and in different areas of the community, we’ve projected an increase in that number, with the increase in food insecurity,” Walker said.

Jennifer Bruen, interim executive director of United Way of the Yampa Valley, sees the community dinner as a place for the community to come together and celebrate the holiday season in Steamboat Springs.

Bruen noted that all people need “love and comfort, especially on the holidays.”

“United Way of the Yampa Valley provides those along with a warm meal,” she said. “We anticipate a huge need for assistance this holiday season, and thanks to our many donors and volunteers, we’ve offered this Thanksgiving dinner for over 30 years to our neighbors, families, and workers in Moffat and Routt counties.”