Salvation Army holds annual Thanksgiving dinner in city

For the past 13 years Guadalupe Villela has been coming to the Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving dinner in Glendale.

Ever since her oldest child was a toddler, the mother of three has been there. One reason she keeps coming back is the graciousness of the volunteers who help make the attendees feel welcome.

“We’ve like the way we’re treated … We’ve been treated very well,” Villela said. “I’m thankful for those people.”

Rick White, the organization’s program director, said it typically takes 70 volunteers over 300 hours to pull the whole thing off — from members of the Elks Club cooking the turkeys to a group of people assembling plates of food and pouring cups of coffee.

Volunteers this year included local high school and college students as well as more than a dozen employees and their families from the Walt Disney Co.

“I am always impressed and encouraged by the number of people who want to help,” White said. “I actually have more people volunteer than I can accommodate.”

Montrell Thigpen first volunteered to help with the dinner last year after being brought by his friend, Kelsey Wong, who has been going for the past five years. The two Azusa Pacific University students said it’s been a better use of their time to help during the holiday instead of sitting around doing nothing.

“We would either be here helping out others or just watching football — We chose to help,” Thigpen said.

White said the dinners get a “real interesting mix of people” every year — including members of the homeless community, senior citizens and families with small children sharing a table with one another.

Nina Gonzales hasn’t been to a dinner in more than 25 years. The Sunland-Tujunga native said she decided to go to this year’s dinner after circumstances led her unable to celebrate the holiday on her own.

“I don’t have any family, my friend just passed away and finances were tight,” she said. “This is my favorite holiday … Since I was alone this year, it was really important to me (to celebrate it).”

Gerardo Lopez said the dinners have been providing him with a peace of mind for the past several years he’s been attending. The U.S. Army veteran said he’s always felt welcome whenever he came to the dinner.

“I just want a nice warm meal, some coffee and lemonade — maybe also get some help spiritually,” he said.

Approximately 175 plates of food were already served by the first hour of the two-hour dinner with 45 more plates being sent out to seniors who stayed at home. White said enough food was available to feed up to 400 people, if necessary.

Food for the dinner was paid for by the be.group, a local nonprofit that provides senior living communities.

Ben Beckler, the nonprofit’s vice president of project development, said the group have been paying for the dinners for the past three years. This year, the company raised approximately $3,300.

“Everybody gives a little bit to make this happen,” he said. “We’re all heavily blessed and fortunate for what we have. It’s good to spread that around.”