The holidays offer a special time to gather with friends and family. Friendsgiving has become a popular tradition in the United States—an opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends! Several years ago Mountain View, a personal care community at Garden Spot Village, began to celebrate Friendsgiving.
On November 20, 2025, more than 100 residents and team members gathered in the Fireside Dining Area to enjoy an incredible time of fellowship and delicious food. It was a moment where everyone gathered as friends to celebrate the many ways they were thankful.
When Dawn Griffy, a long-time Garden Spot Village employee, transitioned to Resident Life Experience Coordinator for Meadow View in the spring of 2024, one of her first assignments was to begin planning the Friendsgiving event for that fall.
Because she had experience interacting with the East Kitchen staff with her previous role, she knew she had a wealth of experience and a variety of menu options available.
“Last year’s event happened so organically and the residents were very excited about the opportunity to serve together,” says Dawn. “I learned a great deal during the process in 2024, but I knew it was something we wanted to continue and improve upon in 2025. The event is really resident-led; we have many small groups meeting and planning different parts of the event.”
As she reflected on ways to improve the event, Dawn began to think about a menu that reflects the Lancaster County tradition of “storing up” and “preserving” locally grown produce.
In the summer of 2025, she formed a Friendsgiving Committee. This group of residents was responsible for the entire event—from planning the menu and entertainment to determining who would decorate, set up, serve and tear down the event.
Their first assignment was to create a menu. Dawn reviewed the menu and began to determine how she could create activities throughout the year that would allow residents to prepare their own food.
First up, corn. She ordered field-fresh corn from a local farm stand and organized a large group of residents who were willing to husk and freeze the corn needed for the Friendsgiving event.
As summer turned to fall, a group of residents traveled to a local orchard where they picked apples. The apples were cleaned, steamed and sauced into delicious applesauce. Again, it was preserved for use during Friendsgiving.
Garden Spot High School’s Grassland Future Farmers of America (FFA) members reached out to inquire about the possibility of making bread as an intergenerational activity. This event was set for just a day or so before Friendsgiving.
Dawn worked with Jackie Ramirez, Chef Manager to find a way to prep the turkey before the day of the event. The solution? Amish Turkey Filling. Residents volunteered to help cook and pick the turkeys on one day; then another group assisted in making the turkey filling, which combines delicious roasted turkey with a traditional bread filling recipe. The casserole-style menu item was set aside for baking the day of the event.
Another group of volunteers washed, peeled and prepped potatoes for mashing the day before the event.
Staff volunteers brought a variety of delicious desserts.
The night before the event, resident volunteers were in the Fireside Dining Room, prepping the space, adding decorations and generally buzzing with excitement.
“We had lots of meetings leading up to the event,” Dawn reflects. “We had to make decisions like who is going to host, who will seat people, who will offer grace and more. The residents really planned every detail of the event. I was just the resource person who could help them accomplish the goals they set for the event.”
Dawn continues, “Some of the residents enjoy serving more than they enjoy some of the more playful activities, so planning Friendsgiving gave them purpose and meaning.”