WATERLOO, Iowa–Veridian Credit Union employees distributed 1,400 free Thanksgiving meals from the UAW Local 838 Union Hall in Waterloo, Iowa ahead of Thanksgiving as part of the 41st annual Mike and Leona Adams Thanksgiving Dinner.
The event is named for the late Mike and Leona Adams. Mike was a member of the UAW Local 838 and a board member for what is now Veridian Credit Union. Mike and his wife, Leona, brought both organizations together to serve the inaugural free community meal in November 1982 for families in need during the farm crisis. The event is now northeast Iowa’s largest free, annual Thanksgiving meal, serving more than 1,000 meals each year, including turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn and pumpkin pie.
This is the third year meals were served through curbside pick-up and delivery.
“We shifted from in-person dining to curbside pickup in 2020,” said Julie Gage, public relations strategist and Thanksgiving dinner coordinator for the credit union. “While we intended to shift back to in-person dining after the height of the pandemic, we learned that the efficiency of giving the meals exclusively through delivery and curbside pick-up allow us to prepare and distribute more meals than we were able to in-person.”
Metropolitan Transit Authority (MET Transit) partnered to provide delivery service to anyone living in Cedar Falls, Evansdale or Waterloo without transportation. Veridian provided an additional 150 meals to Meals on Wheels recipients through the Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging.
Other local contributors to the event include College Square Hy-Vee, Martin Bros. Distributing Co., Inc. and the UAW Local 838.