SOUTH ROYALTON — Volunteers are needed to help with two free community Thanksgiving Day meals taking place in the Upper Valley.

Vermont Law and Graduate School is hosting a meal on the holiday, which is on Nov. 23 this year, as well as coordinating deliveries to towns throughout the White River Valley. The meal will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the school’s Chase Community Center.

There will also be a Thanksgiving Day meal from noon to 1 p.m. at Mascoma Valley Regional High School, which is being organized by the nonprofit organization Friends of Mascoma. Volunteers at both meal sites are needed to assist with a variety of tasks from chopping vegetables to greeting guests.

“People just want to help. They want to do what they can,” said Shirley Jefferson, vice president of community engagement and government relations at VLGS. “They want to do things in their community.”

On Monday, Nov. 20, volunteers are needed to help prepare food. On Thanksgiving Day itself, volunteers can help pack meals around 8 a.m. and drivers will begin deliveries at 10 a.m. People can also help serve food during the sit-down meal as well help clean up after it’s over.

Last year, 60 volunteers — including 25 drivers — helped serve meals to around 400 people, Jefferson said. Those interested in volunteering this year can email communitythanksgiving@vermontlaw.edu or call 802-831-1373.

“That’s the whole beauty of this community effort. It’s more than just a dinner. It gives back hope, compassion, kindness and thankfulness,” she said. “It’s not just celebrating Captain Smith and the pilgrims and all that. We’re celebrating coming together and getting through another year.”

In the Mascoma Valley, Friends of Mascoma is recruiting volunteers to help on Thanksgiving Day. People are needed to help peel dozens of potatoes early Thanksgiving morning and to serve as table hosts during the meal. A community Thanksgiving meal used to take place regularly each year in Canaan and community members had started talking about bringing it back, said Kate Plumley Stewart, interim director of Friends of Mascoma.

“I’ve heard a lot about it so just putting together the time, talent and resources and put them all together in one space for our community is pretty exciting,” Plumley Stewart said. Those interested in volunteering can email thanksgivingdinner@friendsofmascoma.org.

Jerry Lucas, a chef at Cardigan Mountain School in Canaan and a Mascoma Valley Regional High School alum, will be leading a team of four to prepare food to feed at least 100 people Thanksgiving Day. Last year, he had worked with Plumley Stewart to bring pre-made Thanksgiving meals from Sacred Heart Church in Lebanon to Canaan Hardware to distribute meals to people in the Mascoma Valley. They got to talking and decided to try to host a sit-down meal in the area.

“It’s a bit more personal when you can sit down with a neighbor or maybe somebody you’ve never met before, but you’re all together,” Lucas said.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.