Stage Coach Players, DeKalb community donate Thanksgiving meals

DeKALB – A DeKalb-based acting troupe has taken it upon themselves to give back to the community that attends their theater’s performances by partnering with The Salvation Army to help fill plates for Thanksgiving.

This month, the Stage Coach Players donated dozens of Thanksgiving meals to people who may have otherwise not been able to afford the tastiest parts of the holiday. Although many members of the Stage Coach Players contributed to the more than 50 boxes of meals that were donated, organizers said the wider DeKalb community got in on the fray.

Gloria Dennison, a member of the Stage Coach Players and one of the main organizers of the charitable effort, said she was “really impressed with the outpouring of giving from the community.”

On the final night of the donation drive, the basement of the Stage Coach Theatre, 126 S. Fifth St., DeKalb, was packed with nonperishable Thanksgiving meal items.

“They have given cash so that we can get the gift cards for the turkeys,” Dennison said. “They have given us all kinds of, as you can see, mountains of food.”

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Donna O’Hagan, (front) a Stage Coach Players member, and Angela Schiola, Stage Coach Players community outreach chair, sort donated food into boxes Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, at the Stage Coach Theatre in Dekalb. The food collected will be assembled into dinner boxes to provide local families with a Thanksgiving meal. (Mark Busch)

The Stage Coach Players have held an annual Thanksgiving food drive since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the group to find a way to give back to the community. That first year, they donated about 100 meals. Outreach Committee member Jan Kuntz said 50 meals has become the troupe’s annual goal in the years since.

“It’s just community. It’s wonderful,” Kuntz said. “It puts the community in our theater, and that’s what is gratifying.”

Kuntz and Dennison said more people donated this year than expected. It was a good problem to have, and the women said they were happy to spend time sorting through and organizing the donations.

The dinner boxes featured enough food for about eight people and a $15 gift card for a turkey. The boxes also included canned sweet potatoes, green beans, pinto beans, hot cocoa mix, cranberry sauce, diced fruit, whole kernel corn, jarred or canned gravy, boxed dry potatoes, stuffing, dessert mix and bagged white rice.

Those aren’t the only items the group is collecting, however. As the community prepares for the next major holiday season, which now is only weeks away, the Stage Coach Players will collect toys for the angel tree sponsored by The DeKalb Salvation Army.

Kuntz said she’s happy the theater has partnered with The Salvation Army and believes many underestimate how impactful their support can be for people.

“I don’t think people realize that. They think we’ve bounced back from everything, but it’s still crunch time for many people,” Kuntz said. “People are still hurting and needing, and The Salvation Army gives so much. And I don’t think people realize how much they do for the community.”

The angel tree, which contains tags with descriptions of the needs and wants of area children, can be found outside the theater from 4 to 6 p.m. Dec. 3 and Dec. 10. Participants are encouraged to take a tag and return it with a new, unwrapped gift or toy.

While angel tree tags still are available for the taking, Dennison said on Nov. 19 that a couple of people already had donated a large amount of toys to the cause.

“We don’t know who they are,” Dennison said. “They saw the information in the paper, and they came down and they filled the whole box with toys.”