The Day the Turkeys Fly: Hope and Friendship Foundation to Make Sure Thanksgiving Dinner is Available to All

One week from today the celebration of stuffing your face and spending time with family (whether a welcomed event or unwelcomed event is individual!) will ensue!!!

On Thanksgiving morning 2005, I sat in the front of church for a Thanksgiving Service prior to the day I was dreading to walk through. Thanksgiving 2005 was the first Thanksgiving without my father who has passed away 3 weeks prior from metastatic melanoma. As I sat and listened, or tried to listen, my heart and mind were on how the day would unfold spending it with my mother, his widow, his bride of 40 years. The Priest ended the service by saying "I'll end with a quick blessing because I know we all have somewhere to go and a table to be at." Those words still sting 11 years later. Those words, that day, that night of driving around Lemont wondering where other broken hearted persons sat, launched the formation of my mission to carry on my father's legacy of caring for not just those who struggled financially, but also to be a friend to those who struggled physically and emotionally.

Maybe you've been delivered the blow of hearing the "C" word is not a battle for yourself, your spouse or your child, purchasing a turkey now just went down on the "need to do" list. You are a two income family, possibly one of you just received word that one of those income positions will be eliminated or the business has to close, Thanksgiving Dinner is now not a priority for the output cash flow that has been halved. Perhaps you are the single mom who wants to put the Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving Meal on the table for your kids and yourself but that would require sacrificing something that is much more needed (utility bill, kids' needs, gas in the car). Maybe you're the retired couple living a very fixed income but would love to invite friends and neighbors to pull up to your table, knowing there are other lonely hearts like yours. You just suffered the death of a loved one. You don't even have the heart to get up and brush you hair let alone go to the store and purchase the items needed to attempt to carry on the holiday traditional dinner.

Need is present here and now. Financial, physical, and emotional. Generosity lives here as well. Ability to meet the need. Richard's Building Supply once again donated the turkeys. FFE (Frozen Food Express) once again donated the storage space to hold the birds until we are able to release them on Saturday. Friends have purchased food, cooking bags and treats to accompany the turkeys. Jewel in Homer Glen has been collecting for turkey dinners that we will pick up and then deliver to homes who truly are so very excited to have this gift. Donations of funds have allowed me to purchase the tins, and bags for delivery. The Village of Lemont Public Works Department has offered their Garage for us to assemble, load vehicles and be the hub of the onset of the flight.

This outreach and offer of assistance to provide the gift is truly a team effort and there are so many to thank, so many to acknowledge, yet I know they would rather the mission be communicated than the list of names that will make it happen. To those that would otherwise struggle to pull together the means for what is affordable, obtainable, and prepareable for some, you have made Thanksgiving a celebration. Friends of similar struggles gather because you provided the means for that to happen. Food is prepared because you put it in a home that gratefully asked and accepted it. Thanksgiving is completely just a day to be thankful...a day that even more are thankful because of you, and because of my dad who loved the holiday before I did and as much as I did.

My fear is that there was someone else that couldn't afford, organize, or power themselves due to grief to prepare themselves for a day that the country sets aside to sit, eat, celebrate family and friends and our faith in those around us. 11 years later you are still helping make this attainable for everyone no matter their economic or emotional struggles.

I am so thankful for you and for the man that I used to pull up to a table with, bow my head with and offer my thanks for the day with. I envision him seeing each and every one of the homes we offer the food to and hopefully knowing he inspired that bounty on their table, knowing that it also took the amazing generosity of those who heard of the mission to meet needs right here, right now to make it truly a day to be thankful for what we have to help meet the voids of what is needed.

Donations and volunteers can still get involved. A donation box will remain by the Customer Service Desk at Chipain's Fresh Market through Friday, Nov. 18. Donations of food can be dropped off to the Lemont Public Works Garage on Saturday, Nov. 19 from 10-10:30 a.m. Sorting, delivering and the flight of the birds will be between 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday Nov, 19. Hope and Friendship Foundation also organizes a Christmas Day Dinner and Care Box Delivery and could use your help with this outreach as well. Email info@hopeandfriendshipfoundation.com for more information or to get on the Hope and Friendship Email List.

I wish you peace, love and a most blessed Thanksgiving Day, and every day.

Wishing you peace,
Terri

Terri O’Neill-Borders

Email- terri@hopeandfriendshipfoundation.com

Website- www.hopeandfriendshipfoundation.com

Wordpress- http://hopeandfriendshipfoundation.wordpress.com/

Hope and Friendship Foundation
721 Hickory St, Lemont, IL 60439
630-816-4972

“Speakup for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who
are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the
poor and needy.” Proverbs 31: 8-9