Northwestern’s Campus Kitchens Project is working to make traditional, homemade Thanksgiving dinner a reality for Evanston residents who cannot afford to make it themselves.

Student and community volunteers worked four-hour shifts at the Allison Hall dining room on Nov. 23 and 24 to make meals from scratch for about 300 people, according to Campus Kitchens coordinator Scott Parrish.

“For our special events, we like to make things from scratch and give the same quality of food that any other family would get,” Parrish said. “We made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, banana pudding, a veggie medley and apple pie.”

Phil Elsasser, a senior at New Trier High School, said Thanksgiving is an important time for this kind of program. “This is a time of year when people need extra support and extra special food,” Elsasser said. “It goes a long way.”

Weinberg freshman Christina Mergen said she thought the project was a good place to use her cooking skills to help others. “My parents own a catering business, and I thought I could use my knowledge to help out those in need.”

Through the Campus Kitchens Project, which started at NU in May 2003, volunteers prepare meals using unserved food collected from the campus dining halls.

Parrish said volunteer positions are open to “anybody and everybody.”

“About 90 percent of our volunteers are Northwestern students,” Parrish said, “but we do have some Evanston residents.”

Volunteers regularly work Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Allison dining hall. Volunteers who deliver the food to clients work from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday.