From left, Pfc. Jonathan Curtis, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Ornelas and Staff Sgt. Nicholas Davis cut and prepare turkeys Nov. 22, 2016, at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy. The trio was part of a 25-Soldier team that volunteered to prepare holiday meals during this year’s Salvation Army holiday meal effort. (Photo by Scott Prater)
By Scott Prater
Fort Carson Mountaineer
Fort Carson’s Culinary Academy kitchen bustled for more than 48 straight hours Nov. 22-23, 2016, as 25 Soldier volunteers cooked, cut and prepped turkeys, starches and vegetables for a grand Thanksgiving Day meal.
This is the 27th year that Fort Carson culinary specialist volunteers have partnered with the Colorado Springs Salvation Army to provide holiday meals for roughly 3,000 community members.
“The biggest challenge has been getting all these birds in and out of the oven,” said Sgt. Mark Scozzafava, culinary NCO at Fort Carson and five-year veteran of the Salvation Army holiday meal effort. “It’s just been a constant rotation, but we’ve got the system down pretty well now.”
Maj. Gen. Ryan F. Gonsalves, commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael A. Crosby, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, serve Thanksgiving dinners at the Colorado Springs Salvation Army Nov. 24, 2016. Fort Carson Soldiers volunteered their time to prepare the holiday meal. (Photo by Master Sgt. Brent M. Williams)
The volunteers worked around the clock in eight-hour shifts to prepare 350 turkeys, 50 pounds of potatoes and 50 pounds of green beans.
A lot of labor went into the preparation. Culinary specialists did all of the cooking, basting and seasoning before cutting the turkeys into portions and prepping them for storage and delivery.
“We’ve got a big group of dedicated culinary specialists who all volunteered for this task,” said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Davis, culinary NCO. “All of the credit for this effort goes to them. They are the people putting in the work to get this food prepared and delivered on time.”
All of the turkeys, vegetables, potatoes and stuffing was donated by local entities. The culinary specialists prepared the meals, Salvation Army volunteers handled pickup and delivery, and Fort Carson leaders helped serve the dinners at the
Salvation Army locations on Thanksgiving Day.
“I’m just glad there is something we can do as Soldiers to give back to the community,” Scozzafava said. “Every time we go down to help serve, there are so many people giving hugs and saying thank you. It really makes it all worthwhile.”
Maj. Gen. Ryan F. Gonsalves, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael A. Crosby laced up aprons and served community members during holiday meal festivities Thanksgiving Day at the Salvation Army Colorado Springs location.
Culinary specialists unload frozen turkeys at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy Nov. 18, 2016. Fort Carson volunteers prepared 350 turkeys, 50 pounds of potatoes and 50 pounds of green beans for the Salvation Army Thanksgiving meal. (Photo by Alexandra Flodin)
“We really appreciate the opportunity to help out with folks who are less fortunate than us, but also to give back to the community that gives back to us,” Gonsalves said. “The Colorado Springs community has been very gracious to us.”
It marked the second consecutive year that Gonsalves served meals to community members as part of the partnership and the first for Crosby.
“This is a big impact to show our Soldiers giving back to the community,” Crosby said. “It’s going to affect people’s lives all day. We saw our volunteers this morning and thanked them for their exceptional work, selfless service, volunteerism and giving back to people who are not so privileged, so that they can have a nice hot meal on Thanksgiving day.”