Monday’s giveaway took place at South Congregational Church, with teams of volunteers supplying attendees with bags of food and frozen turkeys as they drove through two lanes set up behind the building on South Street.
“First of all, it's an amazing community effort," said Janie Pellish. "We have 24 organizations, both civic and religious, that are on the steering committee. And we start in June, start planning for this particular event. And what we do is, we provide a frozen turkey and all of the fixings for people to go home and prepare a Thanksgiving meal in their homes.”
Pellish has volunteered for Thanksgiving Angels for the past 12 years. Over that time, she’s seen the number of locals in need grow exponentially.
“I know that during COVID, there was an allotment per child I believe, which really, I think it helped to take a cut poverty in half. And now that that's gone, I think people are really, really hurting. Presently, I think there's 13 food pantries in Pittsfield, actually. I actually maintain a list of all of the food pantries and meal sites in Berkshire County, and the numbers just keep rising every year.”
This year, Thanksgiving Angels estimates that it’s serving around 1,800 families or 5,000 individuals in the Berkshires.
WAMC spoke with some of the community members who came to South Congregational Church to collect a meal.
“It’s just important to my holiday," said Marcy Brown. "I'm out of work, I'm retired now, and it's just- It's been tough. It's been very tough. And something like this is going to help about a great deal- And not just for Thanksgiving, but for, you know, a couple days afterwards.”
For Brown, increasing prices across the board led her to take part in the Thanksgiving Angels giveaway for the first time.
“Just about everything, just about everything," Brown told WAMC. "A lot we can't afford and we'll have to do without, but that's okay.”
She says without the free food, her holiday would look very different.
“We're going to go down to my son's house and help them out with a dinner because there's six of them," she said. "So, we all kind of get together and do what we can and make a fun day of it.”
Brown came with her friend Ginny Dawson, who told her about Thanksgiving Angels.
“Oh, it helps me a lot," Dawson told WAMC. "I try to help other people that don't have families that come to my house and enjoy the dinner and just get together and have fellowship. It's friends helping friends.”
Like Brown, Dawson says the rising cost of living has made a major impact on her year.
“I'm feeling it all over," she said. "I'm disabled, and this is- Really makes the holidays.”
Dawson and Brown have a message to the world for Thanksgiving:
DAWSON: Peace.
BROWN: Yes.
DAWSON: Peace.
For other attendees, the gathering was about celebrating something distinctly American.
“I am from Africa, and we don't, in my country, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Once I came here, I live in the states, I love the way they celebrate Thanksgiving, and I love turkey. That's why every year come to get my Thanksgiving Angel," Joachim Kouassi told WAMC.
“I've been living in the state for 20 years. So do the math," he laughed. "Once a year, 20 times!”
Another person receiving a holiday meal from the Thanksgiving Angels is Leland Samuels.
“I am a homeless veteran, and thankful for these guys here, they're tremendous," he told WAMC. "I was here last year also. They're great people. I mean, it just made my day. I feel so good now, and I'm going to share my food with friends and have a good Thanksgiving. And I hope everybody else does, too.”
He’s been without a home for six months.
“I got evicted because trouble with the management of the housing," said Samuels. "They did a petition, next thing I had to go to court, and the next thing I know, they’re like, you're homeless now. So, that's just what we got to do sometimes.”
Despite his circumstances, Samuels has a plan to celebrate the holiday.
“I have a friend," he told WAMC. "We're going to take the turkey to her son, and we're going to cook it and everything else. And you know, I love to cook, and I just miss my kids. I'll see them maybe next month for Christmas.”
He offered his own Thanksgiving message:
SAMUELS: Never take anything for granted. It's always here. Everybody has a heart, and we should all be generous and give thanks to everything that we got. And I wish everybody can have a happy meal and a happy time with family and everything. I mean, that's the main cause, is family. And, of course, eating, you know, but the harmony with people in our society. We should just sometimes take a break and say, look, yeah, we should be thankful for all this.
WAMC: I think it's very beautiful, sir. Thank you so much. Happy holidays. Good luck.
SAMUELS: Take care.
