Hot Meals, Hope Were on the Menu for Downtrodden : Thanksgiving: Social service agencies, restaurants and volunteers banded together to feed the county’s needy.

Steve Baker sat on his knapsack, in one of two long lines that snaked through the San Diego Civic Center complex Thursday, reading a novel about a man suffering from the disease of idealism.

“I’m not too optimistic about the future,” said the unemployed, homeless cabinetmaker as he waited for a Thanksgiving Day lunch distributed by the Salvation Army.

Baker, 31, has not had a steady job for almost a year, and spent Wednesday night outside a downtown office building, where he probably will sleep again. He recently got a lead on a job in National City through a local social service agency.

“We’ll just have to wait and see. There’s hope. It gets a little depressing at times, but there is always hope,” said Baker, in keeping with the character described by author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. in his novel “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.”

Baker and more than 2,000 other homeless and needy people were served turkey lunches at Golden Hall by more than 400 volunteers Thursday, while thousands more across the county enjoyed holiday meals through other social service agencies and restaurants.

Some at the Salvation Army lunch were there primarily for the company.

“I just wanted to be part of a large group,” said Blanco Moreno, 40, who came with five friends.

As large as the crowd was, the turnout was less than what organizers had expected.

“We’ve set up extra tables today, more than we ever have in the past,” said the Salvation Army’s Capt. Donald Bell. The 2,120 chairs were 300 more than last year, and a room with a 500-person capacity was reserved for an anticipated overflow, Bell said.

“The economy is down, there are more people on the streets, and the social service agencies are telling us that there are more people in need,” said Bell, whose own organization has experienced a 20% increase in requests for help this year.

In the end, though, more than 100 chairs went empty, a fact Bell attributed to two new Thanksgiving meal giveaways in Oceanside and Escondido that served about 500 people, and a new program that sent lunches to about 450 homebound seniors.

“Last year, we had people taking the trolley to get down here,” Bell said.

What made the Thanksgiving Day event downtown possible was the hundreds of volunteers.

“It’s not asking much to help out others,” said Karl Olsen, a financial controller for a local pharmaceuticals company. “You can contribute your money, but to contribute your time and smile and a shake of the hand can go so much further.”

Jack Blume, a 60-year-old unemployed salesman, was volunteering for the first time, but it wasn’t the first time at the Thanksgiving lunch.

“I was in line for so many years in the past that I figured that this time I should do something in return,” Blume said.

Mary Ruth, coordinator of the volunteers, and the rest of the Salvation Army staff has been preparing for this day since July.

“It’s my life. A part of my holiday that would truly be missing if I didn’t get to do this,” she said.

The culinary staff of the U.S. Grant Hotel prepared the 600 pounds of potatoes, 600 pounds of green beans, 6,600 pounds of turkey, 600 pounds of stuffing and 350 pumpkin pies earlier in the week.

“Everything was made from scratch in the traditional way. And if they asked us to do it again, I’m sure we’ll be willing to do so. We are all feeling very proud of what we did,” said Daniel LaCroix, the chef’s assistant at the downtown hotel.