Modestans step in to help homeless on Thanksgiving as pandemic halts community meals
Yes, Thanksgiving is different this year. But no, people aren’t any less hungry.
The holiday typically filled with big, boisterous meals in dining rooms and communal halls across the country was quieter and smaller this year for many because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Some local charity groups which typically provide a feast to those in need opted for either safer socially distanced drive-thru meal giveaways — like the Modesto Gospel Mission did the day before Thanksgiving — or no meal at all — as with the annual Thanks for Giving joint Salvation Army and Dan Costa-led Modesto Centre Plaza event that was canceled.
So instead, smaller local groups have stepped in to help fill some of the void left by the cancellation of the area’s larger, in-person Thanksgiving Day events that typically drew over a thousand people.
Among them was an informal group of more than a dozen locally owned businesses that banded together to feed the homeless in Graceada Park Thursday morning. Instead of turkey with all the fixings, they gave out tacos with rice and beans or pizza. The group had also collected donations for winter items and care packages to hand out.
Last year Samuel Contreras, owner of Tacos El Barbon catering, fed the homeless in the park for Thanksgiving from his taco stand. This year he enlisted more people, including his cousin Blanca Vazquez who owns Queen B Lashes, to help organize a larger event because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
She helped to recruit about a dozen other small business owners from the area who are chipping in either with supplies, donations or time. Vazquez said this year, more than ever, they felt it was important for the community to step up to help those less fortunate.
“We should all be thankful for what we have, especially with the pandemic this year,” Vazquez said. “It’s a perfect thing to do right now. The homeless still matter and we should try to do something for them.”
Other small local groups, like Turlock Black Lives Matter, also had events planned Thanksgiving Day to feed homeless in the valley.
The generous gestures meant a lot to married Modesto couple Rebekah and John Harnden, who with their 14-year-old daughter Devin Marie and 10-year-old son John Charles have been living in Graceada Park for about a week. The homeless family has been reluctant to go to local shelters because of COVID-19 outbreaks at the Modesto Gospel Mission and Salvation Army’s Berberian Center earlier this year.
They picked up care packages filled with socks, masks, cleaning wipes, hygiene products and more, as well as hot meals for everyone. The family was waiting in the park Thanksgiving Day to see if an acquaintance would stop by to give them news about some potential housing.
“I feel blessed that there are actually people out there that actually do care about us homeless with kids and everything,” Rebekah Harnden said. “It will help my kids stay warm at night and to know we’re actually going to have food so my kids won’t go hungry. It’s a blessing to me, it really is.”
Contreras, who started his taco business a year ago and is the resident food vendor at Modesto’s Splash Bar, said he was inspired to help the area’s homeless because he used to work for the city in park maintenance. He got to know many of the people living on the streets, and wanted to help. This year, with the pandemic, he wanted to provide for them even more.
“A lot of people this year don’t even have a job right now, so they don’t have enough to support their own family,” Contreras said. “The reason we are giving back is you gotta think about those in need, especially on Thanksgiving.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2020 at 1:14 PM.
