SPOKANE, Wash. — The Salvation Army hosted its annual Thanksgiving meal Thursday, providing free and hot meals for those who are struggling this holiday season.
Thanksgiving is a time when a lot of people gather with family and friends to enjoy a big feast, but not everyone has that luxury.
“We know that those things are isolating. So this is more than just food. It’s an opportunity for us to engage a bunch of volunteers that care for our community, and we’re giving back, and we’re circling people and making sure no one is alone this Thanksgiving,” said Captain Cain with the Salvation Army Spokane.
That’s why the volunteers at the Salvation Army spent their afternoon serving others. Some of the volunteers were still in elementary school.
“We thought it was really fun the first time we did it and it’s super nice to do it.. To help the homeless get more food,” said volunteers Ily and Joy Dyson.
Ily and Joy are kids who used to live at the Salvation Army just a few years ago.
“They helped us get on our feet quite a bit and it was nice,” said Lorenzo Dyson, Ily and Joy’s dad.
On Thursday, the Dyson family spent their afternoon hoping to do the same for others.
“A lesson in humility,” Lorenzo said. “Everybody is the same, the homeless folks are no different than them and they have the same issues as we had figuring things out.”
The girls along with dozens of other volunteers served hot meals with Thanksgiving staples like turkey, a whole bunch of sides and of course: pumpkin pie.
“I’m very blessed to be here today and the turkey is outstanding,” said Terry Swan.
Swan enjoyed this meal so much last year he made sure others didn’t miss out this year.
“The homeless community is a really tight knit community. In a sense, we are like family so the word was easy to spread. Once you let one person know about the Salvation Army turkey dinner, before you know it the place will be filled with people that you know.”
Kids also went around making sure people had drinks with their meals, serving up hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee.
With the help of all the volunteers and simple questions about how they could be of service to others, the community left filled with food and love.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
