Community dinner has a cook, now volunteers needed

By: 
STAFF REPORT

A chef has stepped up to help get the Community Thanksgiving dinner on the table, but the return of the free holiday meal is still up in the air.
Diamond Mayor Terry Kernc reported last week Kevin Lemke, a graduate of Joliet Junior College's Culinary Arts program and a chef currently working for a country club in Hinsdale, is willing to help out. The mayor also has a commitment from a Diamond resident who is will assist and confirmation from the owners of Diamond Banquet Hall that the facility is available for use. What she needs now are volunteers to help prepare and serve the meal.
For six years a local resident organized the free Thanksgiving dinner for struggling individuals living in Diamond and surrounding towns. Dinners were served at the Diamond hall and deliveries were add to serve shut-ins as far away as Dwight.
Then a little more than a month before the scheduled dinner in 2018, the driving force behind the event announced they would not be able to take the lead so a decision was made to take a year off.
When the free dinner was canceled, Kernc got involved hoping to keep the program going. Kernc knows the dinner is a big task and it's more than she, village commissioners and staffers can handle.
Now that she has a cook and someone to assist, she's asking for volunteers.
The mayor will host a planning meeting at 8 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 5 in the Diamond Village Hall. Invitations will be sent to everyone who has assisted in the past, but anyone interested in lending a hand is encouraged to attend.
“At the meeting I will be asking for actual commitments from folks to fill in the necessary spots for the week prior to the event, as well as the folks needed for the day of the event. If at that meeting we have firm commitments from all the volunteers this huge event requires, then we will proceed with the event. Obviously without the required volunteers firm commitments, we will not be able to proceed with the event,” Kernc said.