Greensburg Fire Department delivers Thanksgiving dinner to those in need

Dozens of Greensburg-area families will have a Thanksgiving dinner this week thanks to the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department and donations from the community.

Firefighters packed 50 boxes Tuesday. Each held a Thanksgiving dinner with the works: turkey, veggies, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie.

They loaded the boxes into trucks and delivered them all over town.

Rick Steele, president of Hose Company No. 7, was part of a similar initiative last year in the Penn-Trafford School District, where he’s a teacher.

“I thought, why not do it here, in Greensburg, for our community,” he said.

He brought the idea to fire Chief Tom Bell.

“He came to me and I thought it was a great idea,” Bell said.

Steele contacted Greensburg Salem School District officials, who put him in touch with families that could use a helping hand for the holidays.

The department originally hoped to raise enough money for 25 meals.

Department member Kristi Steele, Rick’s wife, asked for donations on the department’s Facebook page. The response was “overwhelming,” Bell said.

Within 24 hours, people had donated about $1,300, enough to buy 51 dinners.

Rick Steele started shopping for food a month ago, visiting four different grocery stores to make sure he could find everything he needed.

“This could not be done without our community,” Steele said.

Bell said the effort has been an eye-opening experience, and that the department will likely do similar fundraisers in the future.

“You don’t really know until you do something like this how many people out there are unfortunate,” he said.