TRAVERSE CITY -- Marleen Whitney never made it to one of the Father Fred Foundation's community Thanksgiving meals.
She wishes now she had, because this year she won't get the chance.
The foundation canceled the annual event, traditionally held the night before the holiday, after years of low attendance and the emergence of new charitable dinners seemed to indicate its popularity had waned.
The roughly $2,000 used to host the event in the upscale Park Place Hotel dome will be directed instead toward the agency's cash assistance program, a move to keep lights on at home and fund other emergencies.
Whitney figures the benefits are twofold: If people receive financial aid to cover their most pressing bills, they could use what disposable income they have left to prepare their own dinners.
"It's a good thing to put the money more toward what people need," said Whitney, who moved to Mancelona from Traverse City and has received financial help from Father Fred.
A variety of choices that offer comfort to people in need of a warm meal, especially at Thanksgiving, haven't made it easy to be the veteran provider.
For awhile, Father Fred was the largest of the few local holiday meal programs, serving turkey and fixings to people who didn't have the means to prepare dinner or any family or friends with whom to share it.
The late Rev. Edwin J. Frederick, the foundation's founder and namesake, had envisioned an evening in which people could enjoy a nice meal without worrying about the bill. Fifteen community dinners since have been held.
At its peak, the agency hosted two separate seatings, and served as many as 600 people. But attendance fell in recent years, particularly as word traveled about a program at Trinity Lutheran Church and as other parishes prepared their own weekly meals.
Last year, organizers planned for 300 people. About 180 came.
"You have to make decisions for an organization from the larger view," Executive Director Martie Manty said. "If we're seeing people with survival needs in the waiting room and at the same we're still funding a dinner which is not being attended, you need to think, 'You have to make decisions for the good of the organization and the good of the clients that you're serving.'"
Utility payment requests are up 25 percent from a year ago, Manty said. Medical bills and transportation are included in cash assistance.
At least 10 churches or organizations serve lunch or dinner each week. Two will serve food Thanksgiving eve, the day Father Fred used to host its meal.
The region's Meals on Wheels program will serve a hot holiday meal this Friday, Director Vi Brott said, since the office will be closed late next week.
"Over time, some other wonderful events popped up," Manty said. "You can just feed so much turkey."
It's hard to say for certain why people stopped coming to the Father Fred event. Maybe the weather was bad. Maybe they forgot. Maybe they waited until the actual holiday.
Regardless, all organizers can do is track attendance and hope people remember them, said Sandra Svec, whose Community Meals Program serves holiday meals every Thanksgiving and Christmas at Trinity Lutheran.
Her first community Thanksgiving started small 21 years ago, but has consistently grown. She expects 360 people this year, with a likely bump given Father Fred's cancellation.
Two local churches -- Central United Methodist and Faith Reformed -- won't hold their regular Thursday meals next week.
Father Fred "did do a fine job all the years, and then all of a sudden it's changed," Svec said of the community's preference.
Not only that, she added, but "some people I hadn't seen for a few years come back. I'm not sure where they've all been."
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