Hundreds of Thanksgiving meals will be served again this year as an annual Palmerton holiday dinner returns Nov. 26 at Living Hope Lighthouse Church.

Organizer Michael Balch, who has led the effort for nearly a decade, said the event has grown into a townwide tradition.

He expects the volunteer-driven effort to serve between 400 and 500 meals through dine-in, curbside and deliveries.

The dinner offers dine-in service from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and curbside pickup from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Balch begins delivering family-size meals at 8 p.m. to residents who cannot drive.

He said he typically delivers meals “until about 11 o’clock at night,” including about 40 to the local nursing home, several to the police department and more to the ambulance association.

The event serves roughly 200 people inside the church and another 200 curbside. Balch said the goal is simply to make sure anyone who wants a meal has one.

“If you pull up and say you need 14 meals, who am I to judge why you need 14 meals?” he said. “You might have three children and you can’t feed them for five days. I really don’t care. The food is there for the town.”

He said the idea came from wanting to restore a sense of community he felt had faded.

“We had festivals and fairs when I was a kid, and there just wasn’t that thing of togetherness in town,” Balch said. “It doesn’t have to be designed for people who don’t have money. It’s for people who don’t have anything to do or just want to come together. That kind of turned into what it is.”

Volunteers and donors from across Palmerton make the day possible, he said. The Palmerton High School cheerleaders and the girls wrestling team plan to help serve and deliver meals. Local businesses provide much of the food.

“Chip (Solt) from Joey B’s donates 100 pounds of potatoes,” Balch said. “Chris Anthony, who owns Country Harvest, donates the turkeys. I pay for the hams. Sheila Reiss, who owns the Beer Zone, donates the to-go dishes.”

Financial support also helps supply ingredients and reimburse residents who prepare items like filling or stuffing.

“The Bo Tkach Foundation donates money that I buy all this stuff with,” Balch said. “Jim Christman donates money as well.”

Any leftover funds are used to stock the church food pantry.

Preparations begin early on Wednesday. Volunteers drop off food throughout the day, and Balch picks up 30 pumpkin pies donated by Lehigh Valley Hospital–Carbon. He arrives at the church around 10 a.m. and usually doesn’t get home until midnight.

Residents often tell him how much the meal means to them.

“The feedback is extremely great,” he said. “Everybody is super appreciative.”

Balch said anyone who wishes to volunteer or donate can reach him through Facebook or by phone at 610-844-8578.

“I put my phone number right on the post so anyone can call me at any time if they need food, want to donate or need something delivered,” he said.

He credits the entire town for keeping the Thanksgiving tradition alive.

“If the whole town wouldn’t have supported it, I would have just been a guy with an idea,” he said. “It means a lot to me just to help people out. Everybody’s been through hard times.”