Happy Thanksgiving !

[Blackice]

I hope eveyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. God Bless

[Texasredneck]

same too ya, God Bless our Troops

[DNew]

Same to ya'll hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!

[bw jones]

Happy thanksgiving to all good luck hunting

[AggieBall]

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Be safe on the roads!!

[Bill]

Happy Thanksgiving to all in Texas. I want to post this article from the local paper's web site, it reaffirms my faith in the human race when it has a good ending like this.

Bearing turkeys and checks, donors rescue San Jose food pantry

By Sharon Noguchi

snoguchi@mercurynews.com
Posted: 11/25/2009 12:23:22 PM PST
Updated: 11/25/2009 06:07:42 PM PST

It had all the makings of a huge disappointment: For the first time in 45 years of offering Thanksgiving food boxes to the poor, Sacred Heart Community Services ran out of turkeys Tuesday evening. So its volunteers handed out rain checks to 30 families, put out the word and dashed to supermarkets to buy more frozen birds.

When the San Jose charity opened its doors Wednesday to a line snaking down North First Street, workers knew that the 120 extra purchased birds wouldn't be enough. But alerted by Facebook, text messages and old-fashioned phone calls, Silicon Valley came to the rescue with checks, online pledges and trunk loads of frozen turkeys.

As Sacred Heart closed its doors for the holiday weekend, good Samaritans were still driving up with donations, supplementing the nearly 4,000 food boxes given away. And everyone who wanted a turkey or chicken got one.

"It's been a roller coaster," said Todd Madigan, director of development and communications.

At midday Wednesday—with 3,000 boxes already given away—Sacred Heart thought that it would be short at least 500 turkeys, spokesman Darren Seaton said.

The charity, which serves south and central San Jose and Campbell, had 4,000 families pre-register to receive Thanksgiving boxes filled with turkey, canned goods, produce, bread, milk and eggs. Even though it hadn't collected enough turkeys last week, normally pre-holiday donations surge to meet the need.

But this week, the pace of donations didn't pick up enough. "It's a tough year," Seaton said, referring to the toll the economy has exacted on housing and income.

But suddenly the power of the Internet switched on, spurring dozens of donors.

Among them were Amy Lingard, 16, and Evangeline Green, 17, members of Almaden Hills United Methodist Church, who dropped off four turkeys Wednesday afternoon.

"Our youth pastor sent a text message," Amy said. "She said: Sacred Heart has 150 turkeys and that's not enough to feed 1,000 people, so go buy a turkey!" So the girls headed to PW Market then delivered their donations.

Earlier, Presentation High School in San Jose delivered about 600 turkeys, St. Joseph's Family Center in Gilroy dropped off 200 turkeys, San Jose firefighters unloaded 100 birds from fire trucks and San Jose Police delivered 20 birds. Holy Spirit Parish in Almaden Valley contributed $8,000 for turkeys.

The intake and distribution was handled by an army of 250 volunteers, all organized with military precision. They directed clients—seeking food boxes, bag lunches, clothing, housing assistance—into the proper area, unloaded food donations and received envelopes.

"One man gave a $4,000 check," said volunteer Tom Feasby, 60, who was putting in a 10-hour shift at the donation station. "Another man gave the $19 he had left in his pocket. But I bet it was just as important to him as the $4,000 was to the other man."

Clients receiving boxes carried them away happily on Wednesday. "It's a help for the whole family," said Maria Aflores of San Jose, mother of five. She lost her housecleaning job two months ago, and her gardener husband no longer gets the yard work he used to. She said she's cooking the turkey for an extended family gathering today at her in-laws' home in Modesto.

After a break for the long weekend, Sacred Heart on Monday launches into its drive for Christmas, when it plans to distribute about 3,000 boxes of food with turkeys and hams, 15,000 toys, and bikes and books. That's in addition to the 20,000 regular clients who benefit from boxes of food distributed twice monthly.

The need is greater than in years past, Madigan said. Last year, Sacred Heart gave away 3,300 Thanksgiving food boxes. This year, the number bumped up to nearly 3,900. The flow of last-minute donations, enabled by instant communication came as a welcome surprise.

He said, "It's a new world for us."

[kornsqueezer]

Hope everyone of my TBH brothers and sisters have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

[gwellstx]

Wishing everyone a great and Happy Thanksgiving