TROY — The Lincoln Community Center will host its annual Community Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday, Nov. 22, offering free Thanksgiving dinners for several hundred dine-in and carry-out guests.

“Last year we served nearly 600,” Lincoln Community Center Donor and Volunteer Coordinator Maggie Sink said.

Featuring a full menu with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn casserole, green beans, rolls and desserts, the Community Feast will be held in the Hughes Gym at the Lincoln Center, 110 Ash St, Troy.

The dine-in dinner will be served at 6 p.m. and carry-out dinners will be available from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Pre-registration is required for carry-out meals; guests can register by calling the Lincoln Community Center office at 937-335-2715, or by scanning the QR code found on the center’s website at www.lcctroy.org. All carry-out meal registrations must be received by Friday, Nov. 18.

The Community Feast is hosted by the Lincoln Community Center Board of Directors, staff and volunteers. Additional volunteers are always needed; those wishing to volunteer can sign-up online at www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4eabac2da7f9c07-annual.

The feast is funded through the Lincoln Community Center general fund, and donations from local businesses and community members.

“There are so many donors, it’s hard or impossible to list them all,” Lincoln Community Center Executive Director Shane Carter said.

“The estimated cost would probably be close to $2,000 if we had to buy everything ourselves,” Sink said.

The Lincoln Community Center started hosting the Community Feast in 2011, Carter said.

“The board and staff decided a free Thanksgiving fellowship meal was a great way to serve the community,” he said.

The community center’s mission is to provide a safe gathering place that offers educational, recreational, and mentoring opportunities for all ethnicities and age groups in the community. The Lincoln Community Center building was originally constructed in the late 1930s, and a new 21,803 square-foot addition was completed in 2021.

“Prior to the construction of the Lincoln Community Center in 1939, the lot was the site of the Lincoln School,” Carter said. “The school operated from 1865 to 1874 as an all-age black school, until the state legislature passed the Arnett Bill. The Lincoln School building was then used to teach reading, writing and arithmetic to younger preschool-aged Black children.”

“The Lincoln Community Association, later known as the Lincoln Community Center Association, was established in 1924,” he said, “and the 17,400-square-foot recreational facility was constructed on the foundation of the schoolhouse in 1938.”

“Construction of the recent addition was completed in 2021,” Carter said, “and provides a state of the art facility for the city of Troy and surrounding communities to participate in educational, recreational and social programs and events.”

Memberships are available for the community center, which also features a 54,000-gallon heated indoor swimming pool. Lincoln Community Center also offers ongoing classes and recreational programs throughout the year. “Youth basketball league sign-ups are going on until Nov. 19,” Carter said. “Also, the Lincoln Community Center food pantry is open from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9 to 11 a.m. on Fridays.”

The Troy Rotary Club will also host a free “Breakfast With Santa” at the community center, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3. More information can be found online at www.lcctroy.org.