Around the time Skip Pohtilla was about to call it a day last Thanksgiving, the phone rang at the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge.

On the line was a young mother who was spending the holiday alone with a newborn while her husband was away on deployment with the Navy.

She had heard about the North Whidbey Community Harvest and, in particular, its home deliveries of hot Thanksgiving meals.

Everything had been packed up and put away, including leftovers that volunteers take home since they rarely have time to sit down and eat at the event.

Pohtilla, the event’s president, then parted ways with the smoked turkey and fixings he had packed up for him and his wife and was about to take to his car.

“It’s fun to just kind of make sure everyone else is taken care of,” he said.

The North Whidbey Community Harvest is expecting to feed about 3,000 people at the Oak Harbor Elks Lodge on Thanksgiving Day.

The event, in its 16th year, is open to anyone.

Bringing together the community for a free full-course meal served on fine linen tablecloths with silverware and real plates on Thanksgiving Day was the vision of Keith Bartlett, a former Oak Harbor restaurant owner who died in 2004.

The meal will be served from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Another 400 meals are delivered to homes throughout North Whidbey.

It costs about $22,000 to put on the event, funded mostly through cash donations.

The event has raised about $5,300 as of Monday, Pohtilla said, adding that it is slightly behind schedule.

To volunteer or schedule a delivery, call 360-240-0175.

Donations are accepted but not required at the event and also by mailing checks to North Whidbey Community Harvest, c/o Skip Pohtilla, 1090 SE Hathaway St., Oak Harbor, 98277.