“You have family, and you have street family. This is like my street family,” said Spencer, a native of West Virginia whose children live in Virginia.
“It’s a good dinner. I really like the dressing,” he said.
Spencer sat next to James Burks of Somerville, who also has many friends at the Salvation Army but no local family members to share the holiday.
Carol Banker of Plainfield said he also had no family members in New Jersey to share the holiday. A Salvation Army kettle worker, she sat with Charles Allen of Plainfield to share the dinner.
“I think it’s wonderful. God bless them,” said Banker.
The Plainfield Salvation Army was one of several churches, food banks and organizations to host Thanksgiving dinners for residents in the Central Jersey area.
Bono, market leader for Unity Bank’s branches in North Plainfield, South Plainfield, Scotch Plains and Middlesex, said he organized the dinner for 300 people to give back to the community. He handed out about 500 fliers publicizing the event.
“It’s nice to do something for other people who are less fortunate,” said Bono, who, with a team of volunteers, had spent hours preparing about 100 pounds of turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, pies, coffee and tea for the dinner.
“This is our second annual Thanksgiving Day celebration,” said Jim Hughes, Unity Bank’s chief executive officer.
He said the Salvation Army is a good location because they serve food daily at the site and it has a steady clientele.
“We’re a small community bank. This is the right thing to do, give back to those less fortunate. It’s all about helping God’s children. You have to put your hand out to help others,” he said.
“It’s the best thing to do. It’s what Thanksgiving is all about,” added Colleen Paschao, a Unity Bank sales administrator who placed rolls on guests’ plates. “It puts everything back into perspective. I don’t think I’ll ever not do this.
The preparations for the big Thanksgiving meal were in full swing at Food & Friends in northeast Washington.
FOX 5'S Stacey Cohan visited as volunteers gathered to prepare over 3,000 Thanksgiving meals for DC residents living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.
Just last week, the Lemoore Chamber of Commerce named the Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner Committee as its 2012 Organization of the Year.
"We were quite pleased and honored to be chosen," said committee chairman Walt Kendall.
Each year, the 10-member committee carries out all of the necessary planning, fundraising, shopping, volunteer recruitment and coordination for the event.
"We have a dedicated core committee," Kendall said. "Every year, everyone comes back."
The event started in 2001, just three weeks before Thanksgiving, when Kendall's daughter Sharon talked to her parents about providing a free Thanksgiving meal to those lacking the means.
The Kendalls organized several friends and immediately began pursuing donations of food and money. At the first community dinner, held at the Lemoore Masonic Lodge, volunteers served 200 meals.
By 2005, the dinner had outgrown the Masonic Lodge and moved to the senior center. Last year, more than 1,700 meals were served, about 400 of which were home deliveries to individuals who can't get to the center.
Today, organizers expect to serve up to 2,000 free meals, consisting of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans and dessert. Kendall said they purchased 500 pounds of turkey, 500 pounds of ham, 120 pies and three sheet cakes to pull it all off.
"If we have leftover food, we give it to the soup kitchen in Hanford, so nothing goes to waste," Kendall said.
Kendall said the free dinner is made possible by donations from local businesses, organizations, churches and individuals. Besides donations, the event depends on a team of more than 100 volunteers to prepare and serve meals, allowing people from all walks of life to enjoy Thanksgiving together.
"It always amazes us how smooth it goes every year," Kendall said.
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