For the third straight year, the 56th-annual free Thanksgiving dinner will be held at Mercado on Fifth, 423 12th St., Moline., Thursday, Nov. 26, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Emily Allen, president of the Friends of Mr. Thanksgiving group, which runs the event, spoke about the holiday tradition at a press conference Thursday morning, Nov. 5 at Mercado, with “Mr. Thanksgiving,” Bob Vogelbaugh of Moline.
“We’re really excited to have Mercado’s support to have this event here. This is the 3rd year in a row that we have had the event down here in downtown Moline, and it's been a great partnership,” she said. “R.I.A. Federal Credit Union is continuing to support us as a financial sponsor. We're very appreciative for the folks at R.I.A. We also have Hy-Vee preparing, providing, and helping serve the meals on Thanksgiving Day. “
“We hope that the community will come and join us to celebrate the spirit of giving and community. Together we can help every member of our community feel valued and cared for this holiday season.”
“It truly warms my heart to see our community coming together like this. Knowing that we will keep sharing meals and friendship with those who need it most is incredibly uplifting,” Vogelbaugh said. “The holidays should be filled with joy—and thanks to our amazing friends and volunteers, we are making that possible.”
Since 1971, Vogelbaugh, now 85—known affectionately as Mr. Thanksgiving—has welcomed everyone to a fully prepared Thanksgiving meal, providing warmth, nourishment, and a sense of belonging for thousands each holiday. What began as a small gesture at Bob’s grocery store in downtown Moline has grown into a beloved annual tradition, drawing together people from all walks of life to celebrate Thanksgiving as a community.
“It's a wonderful thing, and I'm glad that I have the support. And it's just a great thing. Trying to get through people's heads, it's not a charity dinner, never has been. It's getting people together,” he said Thursday. “Two or three people to me is not Thanksgiving. You need more, and that's what this is all about.”
“It's about giving. It's just getting people together, so the more you can have, the better off the meal will be,” he said.
They plan to serve 750 meals this year, with the help of 60 to 75 volunteers, Allen said.
“There's lots of different ways you can volunteer at the event. Of course, serving the meals is one way to help, distributing water, helping direct traffic and people outside,” she said.
“Often just coming and sitting and visiting with people that come to the meal. Like Bob said, this is a community meal for anyone that just needs a place to gather and to eat. So even just coming down, stopping down and volunteering, sitting and visiting with people that might be sitting by themselves or in a small group is another great way to contribute. And it's a very meaningful time, so we encourage people to come on down and do that.”
Last year, they served 900 meals, including to-go, from a walk-up window at Mercado, Allen said. There will be no drive-through meals picked up from Mercado.
“We actually have a dedicated volunteer crew that loves to be behind the counter and have a really good system to get those to-go meals out the door,” she said. “We did have a lot more people come and sit down last year in the building, which I thought was really nice, and it's just kind of the spirit of the meal, but we do have those options as well for people that need to.”
How many more years will he do it?
Vogelbaugh said he’s not sure how many years he has left doing this beloved tradition.
“I'm 85, so it's up to the biggest guy in the sky how long I'll be down here. You know, even though I got a family that's trying to put me in a nursing home right now, and I have no use for that, I'm still working full-time,” he said. “I work at Holiday Laundry, that's by Miller's— used to be Miller's Florist there, and I work five days a week.”
“It means a lot,” Vogelbaugh said of the holiday dinner. “After I did the first one, I know I'm repeating myself, but never did I think it would go as long as it has and as grown as it has, and which I'm really glad for because I think people are finally realizing this is not a charity dinner. It's just a community dinner. And I could care less what your financial status is. It's just a fantastic thing.”
Mark Gasiorowski, one of the main volunteers and leaders of Friends of Mr. Thanksgiving, praised Mercado on Fifth for hosting.
“They couldn't be more welcoming and open their doors to us. And it is a tough day, obviously, with traffic and control and bringing everybody into play. And we're just super grateful how great they have been to provide the opportunity for people to sit, serve a meal,” he said. “Obviously we're serving 800 to 1,000 meals. That's a lot of preparation. And to have this space and the capacity like this to do it and do it efficiently where everyone's comfortable, it's really just a blessing.”
“It's fantastic,” Gasiorowski said. “It’s for everybody. If you're in Iowa, if you're in Illinois, if you're from out of town, if you don't have anywhere to go, if you're lonely, please come. We'd love to have you.”
He met Vogelbaugh about 10 years ago, when Bob was a crossing guard at Moline’s Seton Catholic School.
“My kids went there, and the tradition was at a crossroads, where you get some things not potentially happening,” Gasiorowski said. “So Bob and I got together, and we— I just want to say we kind of just saved the day to ensure that this continues because of how wonderful of an event this is for the community. Got some people together, started the nonprofit to carry on kind of what he started from now into the future.
“Whether I'm here with the Friends of Mr. Thanksgiving, whether Bob's here, this will always be Mr. Thanksgiving, and it will always be in the heart of QCA,” he added, noting the organization started in 2024, the first year they had it at Mercado.
“And that first year, we put it together in three weeks, you know, because it wasn't going to happen,” Gasiorowski said. “But it happened. And that first year, we served over 1,000 meals. It was fantastic.”
“We've got it to a point where we know that we can handle the capacity, we can handle the people,” he said. “We've taken feedback to see what people really take and value from this event, and we try to do a little bit more each and every year to make it a special day.”
To donate, volunteer or for more information, visit the event website, https://www.mrthanksgiving.com/.
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