I heart PGH

Tag: thanksgiving

  • Thanksgiving Events for a Good Cause – Cycling, Yoga & More

    Thanksgiving Events for a Good Cause – Cycling, Yoga & More

    With Thanksgiving just one week away, one of the questions that pops up around this time of year is “where can I volunteer to help serve a holiday meal?” In addition to volunteering, here are some Thanksgiving events around Pittsburgh that support great local causes.  Know of other events that should be on the list? Please share in the comments below.

    Pittsburgh Pedal for Pantry

    Pedal for the Pantry 2018 – Food drive bike ride/race

    Sat. 11/17 – for those who like to bike in the cold

    This one caught my eye on Facebook because of the image posted on the Facebook event. Pedal around Pittsburgh picking up items for a Thanksgiving dinner and drop those items off at the Wilkinsburg Food Pantry, earn points and win awesome prizes. Check out the Facebook page for some of the very nice prizes including swag from BikePgh and a bike that was donated by Golden Triangle Bike Rental.

    • Saturday, November 17, 2018
    • The race starts at 2 pm, afterparty at 5 pm
    • Register online here. More details here.

    Pittsburgh Thanksgiving Volunteers

    44th Annual Thanksgiving Eve Community Meal – Volunteers & Donations Needed

    Wed. 11/21: for anyone who can lend a hand or donate a few dollars

    This one is near and dear to my heart. A friend who grew up helping with these dinners asked me to help out a few years ago. I showed up late, which ended up being helpful because they needed someone to take over on the dishwashing.  (Life lesson – it is never too late to show up to volunteer). This meal started as an Eagle Scout project – offer up a free, home-cooked Thanksgiving meal.   Last year over 100 volunteers showed up and helped to cook and serve dinner for 200 people. It is a beautiful thing when neighbors come together to share a meal.  Every little bit helps if you want to volunteer for an hour that is great. If you can donate $10 that is helpful too. Last year 64 people made a donation to the GoFundMe page, I’m hoping we can beat that number this year.

    • Wednesday, November 21, 2018
    • Volunteer – anytime after 10 am
    • Dinner 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
    • Location: First United Methodist Church Social Hall, the entrance is on Centre Ave above the Toy Lending Library, across from Panera.
    • Volunteer Sign Up here – http://bit.ly/2OHsFHv
    • Donations can be made on the GoFundMe page here – http://bit.ly/2OHszQ9

    Pittsburgh Turkey Trot

    YMCA Turkey Trot

    Thur. 11/22: for runners/walkers who want to burn a few calories and support the YMCA

    • Thursday, November 22, 2018
    • 8:00 am – 1-mile walk
    • 8:30 am – 5k and 5-mile race
    • The races start at PNC Park

    Pittsburgh-live-music-yoga

    Giving Thanks – Thanksgiving Day Yoga + Live Music to Benefit 412 Food Rescue

    Thur 11/22: for anyone who needs some gentle yoga before a big meal

    100% of the proceeds from this class will be donated to 412 Food Rescue.  This gentle yoga class will be accompanied by live guitar music.

    • Thursday, November 22, 2018
    • 9:00 am
    • BYS Yoga Collective, 1113 E Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
    • See the Facebook event for details
  • An Invitation to Spend Thanksgiving Eve with Your Neighbors

    An Invitation to Spend Thanksgiving Eve with Your Neighbors

    Thanksgiving Day Greetings
    Thanksgiving Day Greetings (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    Three years ago, on Thanksgiving eve, I was asked via a Facebook post from a friend to volunteer to serve food at a free Thanksgiving dinner.  I had no idea when I walked into the kitchen, that I was walking into much more than a dinner.

    One of the many things I have learned from writing this blog, is the importance of meeting and talking with your fellow neighbors.  While I am thankful that this blog, (the Facebook page, Twitter & Instagram accounts, and many local MeetUp groups) have made it possible to share more Pittsburgh stories, I am most proud of the ways that IheartPGH has used all things social media to bring Pittsburghers together in person. The annual Albright Community Thanksgiving Dinner has become one of my favorite ways to bring Pittsburghers together. Here is the post I wrote after last years Thanksgiving Eve dinner:

    Posted to Facebook, November 26, 2014:

    There are so many amazing people in this city that are Pittsburghers. Sometimes I am lucky enough to get to spend some a few moments with those people. Tonight, I helped a friend clean up from the community dinner that has been organized at the Albright United Methodist Church since the 1970s. The volunteers were led by a man that is 75 and has worked at Ritters for over 40 years. Earlier this year, he left Ritters and now works at Dennys. Today he cooked 9 turkeys and all of the fixings. Tomorrow he will feed 35 people at his house, then go to work at Dennys at 5pm. I have helped with the clean up for this dinner for the past 4 years and never had the chance to hear this story. I’ll gladly wash the pots and pans, and mop the floor any night of the week if I get to spend time with Pittsburghers like this.

    On top of that, another kind Pittsburgher saw my post on Reddit about volunteering a the dinner and showed up to volunteer with out having heard of me or my blog. He had taken a quiz on Facebook and learned that today was his 10,000th day alive. To celebrate that, he spent the evening helping a few strangers.

    That is just a little slice of Pittsburgh for you.

    The Albright Community Thanksgiving-Eve dinner is more than making sure everyone has some turkey and stuffing to eat on Thanksgiving day (many folks take home an extra meal in a to-go box), but it is an opportunity for people, neighbors, from all over this city come and sit at the table together for food and conversation.

    If you have been following IheartPGH over the past few months, you know there have been many posts about the future of the Albright Church Building, while I care very much about that conversation, I think it is most important that the focus of the next week be on making sure that everyone in Bloomfield, Shadyside or any other corner of this county has a warm Thanksgiving meal and some neighbors to talk with at dinner.

    Help Make the 41st Annual Albright Community Thanksgiving Dinner a Success!

    Thanksgiving Albright 2015-Flyer1. Plan to attend the Thanksgiving Eve Dinner! This is a free meal and all are welcome to attend if you need food, fellowship or just an excuse to meet your neighbors please plan to attend the meal.  You can RSVP on Facebook Event here.

    Albright Thanksgiving Eve Dinner
    Wednesday, November 25, 2015
    5:30-8pm
    First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall
    5401 Centre Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15232 – Next to the Wendy’s

    2. Spread the word! Please invite your friends, neighbors, community groups and anyone else in Pittsburgh who needs some food & fellowship to attend

    3. Volunteer to help prepare this home cooked meal! Volunteers are needed to help cook, serve and clean up after the dinner.

    Volunteer Shifts – Please sign up to volunteer by filling out the google form at AlbrightPGH.com/Thanksgiving

    4. Donate! You can support the Albright Community Thanksgiving Eve Dinner by making a financial contribution to Friends of Albright. Friends of Albright’s fiscal sponsor is New Sun Rising and all donations are made to the group through New Sun Rising here.

    The 41st Annual @AlbrightPGH Thanksgiving Eve dinner is Wed. 11/25

    Click To Tweet

    History of the Albright Community Thanksgiving Dinner

    Forty years ago, one of the boy scouts who attended Albright planned a free Thanksgiving meal for his Eagle Scout Project.  Ever since, the congregation of Albright United Methodist Church has continued to serve a free Thanksgiving meal. Starting in 2014, Albright began holding the annual Thanksgiving dinner in the fellowship hall at First United Methodist Church, which is located just around the corner from Albright.

    Here is a 2012 article from the Trib about the Albright Thanksgiving Dinner:

     

  • “Cold Turkey” Screening at The Hollywood Theater – Thursday 11/21

    cold-turkey-posterJust in time for the family fun of the holidays!  Cold Turkey is a film about families and Thanksgiving.  With an all star cast, including Peter Bogdanovich and Cheryl Hines, this looks like a promising film.

    You can watch Cold Turkey online at Amazon and Google Play.  If you would like to catch this film on the big screen, Cold Turkey will be showing at The Hollywood Theater in Dormont this Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 7:30pm. Tickets are available online via Gathr.

    A friend of mine sent me the preview to this film last week and I thought this was worth sharing.  Here is your opportunity to check out a Thanksgiving film a week before Turkey day and an excuse to visit one of Pittsburgh’s independent movie theaters.  (Check out the IheartPGH guide to independent movie theaters in Pittsburgh here).

    Looking for more holiday movies on the big screen? The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will be screening Planes, Trains and Automobiles and It’s a Wonderful Life this weekend – check out the November schedule here.

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  • In Search of the Perfect Pie – Beehive Hosts Pie Bake Off

    Maybe you didn’t get to eat enough pie on Thanksgiving or maybe you are just looking for an alternative to the craziness of Black Friday? Then this is an activity for you – the Beehive Coffee Shop is hosting a Pie Bake Off.

    There are prizes for best sweet, best savory, and best themed pies. There is a $5 entry fee and a $3 fee to just come, watch, and sample pies.  The winners will receive cash prizes!

    Judges include the Beehive  owner, Steve Zumoff; and Dozen owner James Gray.

    Friday, November 26, 2010, 3pm-7pm
    Beehive Coffeehouse
    1327 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA, 15203-1509

    Facebook Event Page – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163099107055270

  • Eating Fresh and Local along the Penn Avenue Corridor

    Everyone is surely thinking about food a lot more this week than usual. While planning your Thanksgiving feast, did you stop and think about eating fresh and local? This year for Thanksgiving, I’ll be enjoying my first taste of a fresh and local turkey from Pound’s Turkey Farm.

    I wouldn’t have thought about a fresh and local turkey as an option for Thanksgiving if it wasn’t for my partner in crime, Rob de la Cretaz, who decided to weed out processed foods from his diet and eat fresh and local as much as possible after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

    In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan notes, “… the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds.” So, how would one go about eating fresh and local regularly in an urban setting? (more…)