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STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK With Easter on the horizon, J. McLaughlin is hosting an afternoon of sips and spring shopping to benefit Ketchum Community Dinner Curbside. Hosts Betsy Ashton, Mary Pat Gunderson, Connie Hoffman, Ann Scales, Janet Schaumburg and Mardi Shepard will be pouring bubbly from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at J. McLaughlin, 520 E. 4th St., in Ketchum. And 10 percent of the sales from the new spring collection will benefit Ketchum Community Dinner Curbside.
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Joe Gunderson had a good excuse to skip gym class Thursday after spending an hour Wednesday night waving people towards the Ketchum Community Dinners, which were being handed out under the St. Thomas church steeple because of sporadic snow showers.
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Ketchum Community Dinner Curbside began as St. Thomas Episcopal Church’s response to the pandemic in August 2020. Since, the effort has served 21,122 meals. During 2025 more than a hundred volunteers stepped up to hand out meals every Wednesday evening during the drive-home hour. They included members of the Wood River Pickleball Alliance, Moms of the Community School and even The Righteous Brothers. During 2025 volunteers prepared and served 4,108 meals—335 of them to children and 1,719 to seniors. The meals, which range from Moroccan Beef and Veggies to Chicken Cacciatore, served 1,470 households, including 66 new households with an annual out-of-pocket expense of $8,102. Also contributing are the Idaho Foodbank, AA Dairy, Church of the Big Wood, Cold Summit, Grocery Outlet in Hailey, Hangar Bread, The Mason Family and the Sun Valley Culinary Institute, which is famous for its Thai Curry Chicken takeout meals.
The Steering Committee is comprised of Dell-Ann Benson, Helen Morgus, Janet Schaumburg and Karl Johan Uri. “We’re so proud to support a cause that brings healthy dinners to so many of our friends and neighbors,” said Sarah Howe, who manages J. McLaughlin. “Things like this remind us what makes our community so special—neighbors helping neighbors and a shared love for the place we all call home.”
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