Turkey trot: Meals on Wheels

It all started with two kind-hearted 15-year-old friends and three ham dinners. Forty years ago, Bill Foussard and Barb Olson Aslesen knew of three families who were not able to afford a Thanksgiving meal and decided to do something about it.

Pooling their money, the pair bought the ingredients they needed and stayed up all night in Foussard's St. Paul kitchen to prepare the meals. The next morning, they delivered the dinners to the surprised and grateful families.

"I'll never forget what an incredible feeling that was," said Aslesen, who lives in Edina. "From that very first year, our whole premise has always been to feed families that would otherwise go without a Thanksgiving meal."

So began Thanksgiving Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit program that provides about 15,000 free meals to families across the metro area. The original staff of two has grown to more than 1,000 volunteers of all ages who greet the dawn on Thanksgiving morning at Cretin-Derham High School in St. Paul to help assemble the meals (some arrive earlier to mash potatoes) or pick them up to deliver to waiting families.

Ed Flaherty of Eden Prairie has been a volunteer driver for 36 years. For his family, which includes five children, Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without this service opportunity.

"I remember in the early years, I'd take a couple of routes and go back and forth, since they didn't have nearly as many drivers," he said. "It's become such a tradition in our house, and even though our kids are older now, whoever is around, goes."

More than 30 social service agencies and other organizations provide names to program coordinators, who began accepting calls in early November. Sister Rosanne Fox, a longtime volunteer who became involved with Thanksgiving Meals on Wheels when she was working at St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis 30 years ago, said the call volume was high this year.

"We have 500 dozen rolls coming from a bakery in Omaha, Nebraska," Foussard said. "We get food donated from Owatonna and Montgomery, Minnesota, as well as so many local donations. We couldn't do it without all the great support."

And now the next generation is preparing to take the reins: Luke Aslesen, 20, a junior at the University of Minnesota and a son of Barb and her husband, Tom.

"Growing up, I developed a heart for mercy ministries," Luke said. "I just look at my life and everything I have and know that I could spend my whole life giving back and it wouldn't be enough."

Luke has been involved with all organizational aspects of the day and is continuing the tradition of having his friends, many of whom are fellow graduates of St. Thomas Academy, help out on Thanksgiving.

"There's a real community that's developed around this event over the years," Luke said. "I definitely want to keep that going."