The turkeys – or at least the money to buy them – have been donated.

Many church groups are planning to bring in most of the other cooked food, from mashed potatoes and gravy to pies.

But volunteers are still needed to make sure the annual Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner on Nov. 23 goes without a hitch, said Terry Connolly, who has been organizing the event for 10 years.

The annual Thanksgiving meal will be from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 23 at the LINK Kitchen at the First Christian Church, 10th and Vermont.

It’s a chance to get into the volunteer spirit, as well as join in on a community meal, Connolly said.

“Anybody is welcome,” she said. “If you feel like it, come in and join the group. It’s not just for the needy.”

The other part of the event is the delivery of Thanksgiving meals to those who are homebound and can’t make it to the meal at the church, Connolly said.

Project Lively will be compiling a list of those who are homebound who want to have a meal delivered to them, Connolly said. The delivery list will include names provided by the Lawrence Senior Center, the Salvation Army and Lawrence Memorial Hospital, she said.

Katie Studebaker, LINK president, said about 225 take-out meals will be delivered and about 200 meals will be served in the LINK dining room.

Volunteers who want to deliver meals, help serve in the kitchen, prepare food for serving, clean up or do dishes can sign up to do so between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. starting today by calling Connolly at 865-3985.

Connolly said funds have been donated to buy 32 20-pound turkeys, which will be cooked by Maceli’s restaurant.

The other menu items include dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, dinner rolls and pie, she said. The carry-out meals will include cranberry sauce and coleslaw in small containers.

Plans call for Maceli’s to deliver the cooked turkeys on Nov. 22 to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1234 Ky. There, they will be carved by butcher Jerry Collee and his family.

Connolly said money donations, prepared or cooked food donations, and cranberry sauce may be brought to St. John’s on Nov. 22.

Most of the dishes are generally prepared by church groups and brought to St. John’s the day before the meal, she said.

Connolly said she will be given the lists of home deliveries on Nov. 22, and she and other volunteers will map out the next day’s delivery routes for the volunteer drivers.

Drivers will begin arriving to get their instructions about 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving, and most of the deliveries will be on their way by 12:30 p.m.

After the deliveries are prepared and on their way, the food is taken over to the LINK dining room, where the meal is served.

“If there are any leftovers, they are served up the next day at LINK,” Connolly said.