In 2020, Tom Grove of the Cheesecake Connection in Youngwood said the business delivered about 160 prepared turkey dinners to needy families, but the logistics of delivering and arranging pickups of prepared meals was “really, really difficult.”

Enter the Blue Knights motorcycle club, which is comprised of members who are active or retired corrections and law enforcement officers. Last spring, the club moved in next door to Tom and Heather Grove’s business on the 300 block of Depot Street.

“We wanted to be able to feed a few more people and getting the prepared meals was a little more difficult,” Grove said of the reason he reached out to his new neighbors to see if they would be willing to assist with a Thanksgiving charity event.

The Blue Knights already organize an annual Christmas toy drive for dozens of area foster families, so Irvin Shipley, chapter president, said members decided to help through contributions, preparations and deliveries.

Monday was delivery day for about 40 families in the region, according to Matthew R. Schimizzi, a Greensburg attorney and member of the Blue Knights.

“People are going to be stopping in to the chapter office on Depot Street throughout the day today to pick up dinners, and we also have members out delivering throughout the day,” Schimizzi said.

Shipley said adding another annual event to help area residents in need was welcomed by club members.

“We enjoy helping people. So we decided to join with the Cheesecake Connection,” Shipley said. “We’re delivering turkey dinners from New Alexandria to Monroeville. We enjoy helping out.”

Shipley said the group sent out word to area supporters and area churches that anyone need of a Thanksgiving dinner “only needs to ask.”

He said one request from a family in Greensburg he took Sunday “was really special.”

“They told me when I took their order they were not planning to have a Thanksgiving dinner, but with the ingredients for a whole turkey dinner, they plan on surprising their neighbors and invite them, too, on Thanksgiving Day,” Shipley said.

Families of four or less were provided with a 15-pound turkey; a bag of stuffing; corn; five-pound bag of potatoes, plus a fruit or pumpkin pie. Families of six or more received a 20-pound turkey and all of the fixings, he said.

Shipley added that the motorcycle club’s toy drive for area foster families is ongoing. Donations are being accepted at the Blue Knights office at 306 Depot St., Youngwood, or through the club’s Facebook page.

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