A cafeteria worker prepares a Thanksgiving meal to feed hundreds
By JEFF ROBERSON
REEDS SPRING, Mo. (AP) — The first year Shirley Mease cooked up a free Thanksgiving feast in the Reeds Spring High School cafeteria, icy weather kept most people away. But when her family knocked on doors to offer the meals, the gratefulness they found confirmed the need in her Missouri community.
“When you work with the school system you know the families that are in need because there are a lot of babies that come to school and that’s the only meal they get,” says Mease, who is semi-retired from her job in the cafeteria.
That first year, 2009, Mease and her volunteer crew provided 100 meals. This holiday, they expect to serve 700, drawing on donations. That’s up from about 625 last year, to account for food insecurity in many households that count on SNAP food aid benefits suspended during the federal government’s recent shutdown.
All are welcome, no questions asked.
The 73-year-old Mease, her children and grandchildren have been preparing for weeks, loading shopping carts and picking up donations. When she and volunteers arrived at the school cafeteria Wednesday to begin cooking, at least 44 turkeys and 225 pounds of sweet potatoes awaited.
“I know (SNAP) is back in working order, but it will take time for that to really help people out,” she says. “Especially in this area, the food banks are being hit very hard, so I just feel like this is a time to step it up a little bit.”
High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, right, shops for supplies with her granddaughter Teagan Porter before preparing 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Springfield, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, right, stops to hug her granddaughter Teagan Porter as they shop for supplies to prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Nixa, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Kristal Porter, right, helps her mother, high school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, load turkeys into the oven in the kitchen at Reeds Spring High School as they prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Reeds Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease uses the sink in the kitchen at Reeds Spring High School, where she used to work, while preparing 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Reeds Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease uses the kitchen at Reeds Spring High School, where she used to work, to prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Reeds Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease uses the kitchen at Reeds Spring High School, where she used to work, to prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Reeds Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Larry Mease works to peel 240 pounds of sweet potatoes as he helps his wife, high school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Reeds Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease wheels a cart in the kitchen at Reeds Spring High School while preparing 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025, in Reeds Spring, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, left, pauses to pray with family members as they break for lunch while shopping for supplies needed to prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Springfield, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, right, and son-in-law Rick Porter load up a car after shopping for supplies needed to make 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Springfield, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Kristal Porter places caned goods in a cart as a shopping list is seen nearby while shopping for supplies to make 700 Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Nixa, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease, right, talks with her daughter Kristal Porter, center, and granddaughter Teagan Porter, left, as they shop for supplies needed to prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Nixa, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)High school cafeteria worker Shirley Mease shops for supplies needed to prepare 700 free Thanksgiving meals for community members Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, in Nixa, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Related Posts:
Thanksgiving meal costs expected to fall as turkey prices drop News Shoppers may find a bit of relief in their pockets this year, as many holiday staples are priced lower than a year ago. “For the first time in a while, I can give the good news that actually, the cost of a meal looks like it’s going to be down…
New frozen-to-hot meal program for LA County jails includes Thanksgiving menu News Called the most significant improvement in inmate feeding in decades, an advanced Cook-Chill system to prepare meals in-house, ensuring freshness, consistency, and sustainability has been launched at Men’s Central Jail, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Food Services Unit announced Tuesday. The new pre-portioned and innovative hot meal program…
New frozen-to-hot meal program for LA County jails includes Thanksgiving menu Uncategorized Called the most significant improvement in inmate feeding in decades, an advanced Cook-Chill system to prepare meals in-house, ensuring freshness, consistency, and sustainability has been launched at Men’s Central Jail, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) Food Services Unit announced Tuesday. The new pre-portioned and innovative hot meal program…
Nonprofit farm in Los Gatos helps feed those in need News Nonprofit Ma’alot Farms sits tall on a hill in Los Gatos like the Garden of Eden, bearing hundreds of pounds of produce that will be donated to food banks and kitchens to help feed people facing food insecurity. According to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, 1 in 6 people in…
Nonprofit farm in Los Gatos helps feed those in need News Nonprofit Ma’alot Farms sits tall on a hill in Los Gatos like the Garden of Eden, bearing hundreds of pounds of produce that will be donated to food banks and kitchens to help feed people facing food insecurity. According to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, 1 in 6 people in…
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
