Giving Back
Salvation Army, Others Offer Hot Meals, Fellowship on Holiday
After enjoying a hearty breakfast, guest at the Salvation Army center in New Brunswick were handed frozen turkeys and side dishes on their way home. The Salvation Army also distributed about 300 turkeys last week.
Guests stepped in from a cold, rainy morning to the aroma of fresh eggs, potatoes and other food as the Salvation Army on Handy Street served up breakfast on Thanksgiving.Photo Credit: Chuck O'Donnell
Family crowed into the dining room at the Salvation Army center on Handy Street to enjoy a freshly made breakfast prepared by a team of volunteers who began to arrive on Thursday at 5 a.m.Photo Credit: Chuck O'Donnell
After enjoying a hearty breakfast, guest at the Salvation Army center in New Brunswick were handed frozen turkeys and side dishes on their way home. The Salvation Army also distributed about 300 turkeys last week.Photo Credit: Chuck O'Donnell
Guests stepped in from a cold, rainy morning to the aroma of fresh eggs, potatoes and other food as the Salvation Army on Handy Street served up breakfast on Thanksgiving.Photo Credit: Chuck O'Donnell
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By Chuck O'Donnell
Published November 28, 2024 at 5:54 PM
NEW BRUNSWICK – A man in a gray beard and a red hoodie had just stepped in from the cold, rainy morning and onto the line for breakfast at the Salvation Army.
With the heat of the piping-hot food beginning to thaw his face, a little smile started to crease his lips.
He inched his plate forward, and his body language told the young man with the serving spoon, “Yes, please load me up with those delicious scrambled eggs.”
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He and other guests also enjoyed potatoes, rolls, hot coffee and more as the center at 287 Handy St. opened its doors and hearts to anyone who wanted to enjoy a hot meal and some good company on Thanksgiving Day.
On this holiday, there was an invitation for all to come and enjoy a hot meal, whether it was breakfast at the Salvation Army center or turkey dinners at the Bayard Street Presbyterian Church and the United Methodist Church.
At Elijah’s Promise on Nielson Street, they were serving lunch and dinner, like they do every day of the year.
Other centers and houses of worship across the city also welcomed guests into their hearts and hearths.
At the Salvation Army center, Captains Martin and F. Neomi Tripari were expecting to feed about 300 people on a holiday when food plays a central part, yet many in and around the city are struggling with food insecurity and loneliness.
“It’s very important because I see a lot of families don’t have anything today,” Martin said. “I see families who don’t have anything to say thank you to God for.”
On Thursday, the Triparis and a roster of 39 volunteers became their family.
The volunteers began to arrive at 5 a.m. on Thursday to fire up the ovens and start preparing the food.
They eventually took their positions behind the trays of hot food in the hallway, serving the guests who passed through the line. Others volunteers were running back and forth to the kitchen to restock the food.
Still other volunteers, like Mery Alegria, went up to the guests as they enjoyed their meal, offering them some hot chocolate to wash down their breakfasts.
“It’s always great,” she said about the Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving breakfast. “You always see different people come in here with different situations. It’s always great to see and greet people. A lot of these people don’t have that opportunity every day. I was telling these kids, ‘You have to greet them with a smile. Be nice. Be kind, because not a lot of them get that every day. Not a lot of them experience that every day.’”
And although the center distributed hundreds of turkeys last week, they were on Thursday giving out hundreds more, plus side dishes, thanks to some unexpected donations from the community.
Inside the dining room, Christmas music was playing softly as families dined on tables decorated with festive, fall-themed tablecloths.
A little girl was enjoying a waffle that was almost as big as her head, and a boy was rethinking his choice to put so much ketchup on his eggs. Another boy had turned his cup all the way over, making sure to catch every last drop of his hot chocolate.
“When you are blessed, it’s a great opportunity to offer the blessing to others,” Neomi said. “In this case, we had a lot of families in the community that are facing a lot of difficulties to have income and buy food for this day. And, a lot of people don’t have family members with them. They’re alone, and this is one way we can make a difference.”