Modesto church gives 450 families reason for thanks

As others were staking their places outside stores to score Black Friday (now really black Thursday) bargains, an overnight wait was ending for a number of people seeking help just to put a Thanksgiving meal on the table.

At Victory Life Center on Woodland Avenue in west Modesto, Shirley Stroggs was first in line as a giveaway of 450 meal boxes began at 9 a.m. Tuesday. She’d been there since about 5 p.m. Monday.

“I get here as early as I can,” she said, bundled up against the chilly morning after a night that dipped into the high 40s. Last year, she showed up about 7 a.m. and found herself 200th in line.

She wasn’t taking any chances in this, her third year to line up for the food. “There are so many people out here, the line goes down the street,” she said. A man who arrived at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday had at least a few dozen people in front of him. The food “helps out a lot,” Stroggs said, in feeding herself and four others on Thanksgiving.

The fixings for a family meal provided by Victory Life include a 14-to-16-pound frozen turkey, 5 pounds of potatoes, 4 pounds of sweet potatoes, 2 pounds of onions, stuffing mix, cans of corn, green beans, gravy and olives, dinner rolls, butter, eggs and a loaf of bread.

The bread is a new addition this year. “I thought, ‘I’m going to make a turkey sandwich on Friday. A lot of other people do the same thing,’ ” said Jerry D. Quillen, who for eight years has overseen the Thanksgiving meal distribution.

Quillen, 31, is a son of Victory Life Center senior pastors Jerry and Susan Quillen. He’s been around for all 30 years his parents have conducted the meal giveaway and said he’s glad to be able to lead the effort now.

The first year, Victory Life gave away 20 turkey dinners. By the 10th year, the number had grown to 700. Last year, the Quillens said, the congregation was able to pack about 600 dinner boxes.

The funds simply weren’t there this year to do as many boxes, said the elder Jerry Quillen. “We just had to fix a sewer line and do other work,” he said. “So when we asked (congregation members) for money for this, we’d already asked for the other things.”

Just as the economy and other circumstances affect how many food boxes Victory Life can provide, it also affects the turnout. Susan Quillen estimates that when the Thanksgiving giveaway was about 20 years old, roughly 1,200 people lined up for boxes.

Many have had to be turned away over the years, and the Quillens said the crowd Tuesday morning, about 30 minutes before distribution began, already appeared to be nearing the number of meal boxes.

“The economy changes the demand, but the people don’t change,” Jerry D. Quillen said. “There always are poor people who need help.”

His father said he sees many of the same faces each year. “They’re stuck (in their circumstances) – it’s sad.”

Most of the people lined up also take part in other programs offered by the church’s Modesto Love Center emergency food pantry. The center offers food Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon and has a federally funded Commodity Supplemental Food Program for seniors that gives out thousands of boxes of food a month.

This was the eighth year Luc Bracero has attended the Victory Life Thanksgiving distribution. “My daughter lost her job and needs help,” she said. “And I live on a fixed income – that’s why I’m here.” She estimated the food will help feed about 18 family members this year. “We cook all kinds of different breads. Everybody chips in a little something.”

Also in line was Richard Smith, back for his fifth year. He arrived at 7 p.m. Monday, and to help keep the cold from biting his fingers during the night, he heated stones by setting them atop a propane lantern. He shared the warmth with others, including an appreciative Stroggs, who passed around the stones. “Snakes and lizards do it all the time,” Smith said of the trick of drawing warmth from the hot stones.

“If they’ll come out and spend the night, you know it’s the real deal,” pastor Jerry Quillen said just before the giveaway began. “It always touches me when I see them. I think, dear God, I wish I had more (to give). That’s my thought every year: I wish I had more.”

Having talked with a number of folks as they waited Tuesday morning, he added, “The nice thing is most of the people here seem happy. It makes them in good spirits knowing they’re going to have a Thanksgiving dinner.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Modesto church gives 450 families reason for thanks."