A plate of traditional Thanksgiving fixings can warm the heart, calm the soul and fill the belly.

The turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberries, and slice of pie were exactly what Rapid City resident Michelle Tangimana needed.

Her sister died a week and a half ago, and the past few days have been hard ones for her. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, Tangimana didn’t have the will to cook an elaborate dinner for her grandsons, Jorden, 13, and Joseph, 3.

So along with hundreds of other residents, they ended up in the gymnasium at St. Elizabeth Seton for the 27th annual free Thanksgiving Day dinner, hosted by the Knights of Columbus Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Council 1489.

“God sent me here,” Tangimana said. “This is really what I needed today. Everyone has been so gracious and so kind. It really lifted up my spirits.”

No matter their reason, whether it was too many hungry mouths or too few, everyone Thursday was welcomed with open arms and full plates of Thanksgiving staples. Event co-chairman Steve Hasenohrl said they had enough food to feed 1,200 people, plus 300 meals that were delivered to those who couldn’t get out.

Everything -- the food, the table linens, the flower centerpieces -- came from community donations.

“We all have more to be thankful for than we can even remember every day,” Hasenohrl said. “This is a tangible way to show it.”

Dottie Gibson and her brother Donnie Straub of Rapid City sat side by side, across from two stacked to-go containers.

Gibson’s daughters and grandchildren live in North Carolina, and she spends much of her time taking care of her ailing father, 90. The containers were for him.

“I wouldn’t be eating Thanksgiving dinner at home. It wouldn’t have fixed anything. It would have been too much,” Gibson said. “That’s a two-day job. You can’t just whip it up.”

The free meal also gave the siblings a chance to spend some time together.

“When you’re elderly and live at home alone, there’s just no sense in doing any cooking,” Straub said. “My next choice was Chinese.”

For Lottie Brave Hawk of Grand Island, Neb., in town for the holiday, pulling together a Thanksgiving dinner at home was just too much on her hourly wages. She came to Thursday’s dinner with friends and relatives.

“It’s a great place to come when you don’t have very much groceries,” Brave Hawk said. “To make the stuffing, you need to buy everything else -– the celery, everything. It costs a lot. To come here, I didn’t have to buy anything.”

Contact Emilie Rusch at 394-8453 or emilie.rusch@rapidcityjournal.com.