photo by: Elvyn Jones

Guests and volunteers take part in LINK's Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023, at First Christian Church in Lawrence.

As Thanksgiving approaches, there will be several places in Lawrence where people can find a community Thanksgiving meal for free or for a donation:

• Ahead of Thanksgiving, Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority is offering a free Thanksgiving meal to all of its residents from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Huppee Community Facility, 1600 Haskell Ave. #150.

• The Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen, or LINK, will be serving its annual free Thanksgiving meal from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the basement of the First Christian Church at 10th and Kentucky streets. It’s free and open to anyone. The kitchen regularly serves lunches at 1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays for anyone who needs a meal, and it needs volunteers year-round; people can visit linklawrence.org to learn more.

• The Sandwich Bowl will host a community Thanksgiving dinner again this year with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls, and cookies donated by Eileen’s. Donations are welcome, but not required, and the dinner is first come, first served. It will be at 5 p.m. Thursday at 4821 W. Sixth St., Suite K. People are encouraged to RSVP on the restaurant’s Facebook page.