Local Chefs Serve Free Thanksgiving DinnerAndy McKeever
iBerkshires Staff
06:35PM / Monday, November 22, 2010
 Volunteers of all ages helping the Berkshire Food Project expected to serve more than 300 Thanksgiving meals on Monday night.
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Last year, local chefs joined the Berkshire Food Project's community Thanksgiving and increased the amount of meals served by 100.
But they were not done and aimed to raise it even more this year. Chefs from Gala Restaurant, Gramercy Bistro, the Williams Inn, Wild Oats Community Market and Green River Farms catering served hundreds of free meals on Monday evening at First Congregational Church.
"People always send money thousands of miles away to help solve hunger but they don't look out their back door," said chef Chris Bonnivier of Gala Restaurant, who brought his fellows chefs along for the second year. "This is for the community to come together and to spread awareness. It's for people who don't need it to sit and break bread with the people who do."
With hundreds of pounds of food at the ready, the chefs and volunteers began serving at 5 p.m. and, only a half-hour later, 130 people had been fed and the doors were still open. Anybody who wanted the meal could walk in and get one. The volunteers even had a new serving and busing staff: members of the Williams College football team.
"I just felt it was a great opportunity to get my guys out to do some community service," Williams College head coach Aaron Kelton said. "It's a chance for the community to meet my guys. They read about us every weekend and now they can say they met us."
Kelton said 12 of his players, three coaches and his wife all volunteered for it.
The Berkshire Food Project Thanksgiving Dinner has been served for 17 years, headed by project manager Valerie Schwarz, but this is the second year the chefs have helped out. Schwarz typically held the dinner at noon but with the extra help, the volunteers now serve it in the evening to accommodate more people.
"All the chefs were happy for allowing us to come along," Bonnivier said.
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