At Union Gospel Mission, a thankful time for givers and receivers

It would be easy to be a little self-absorbed if you were Sylvester Walker, away from his family and in chemical dependency treatment for the past month at the Union Gospel Mission in St. Paul.

But it was two days before Thanksgiving, and Walker had about 50,000 people to help feed.

"It's giving back," he said, holding the door for another person walking out with a turkey, potatoes and grocery bag full of fixings to prepare Thanksgiving Day dinner. "I see the smiles on people's faces. It's all God. It's a blessing."

On Monday and Tuesday, in a massive operation that illuminated the better angels of human nature, Union Gospel Mission's clients, many of them homeless, joined a cadre of volunteers and staffers to gather, pack and carry out about 10,000 grocery bags filled with Thanksgiving dinners.

By 7 p.m. Tuesday, officials expected to have distributed 1,000 meals to military families, 3,500 meals to Minneapolis families and more than 5,200 meals to people who came to the St. Paul campus by car, bus or on foot. Each bag feeds a family of five.

About 700 meals were to be distributed to local churches, dozens of which helped collect food and money to make it all possible, said Brian Molohon, director of development for Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities.

Hundreds more meals were slated to be delivered — prepared and hot — to seniors throughout the area on Thanksgiving Day.

"I think many of those 50,000 people wouldn't have a dinner if not for this effort," Molohon said. "Hunger here might not be distended bellies. But we definitely have people who miss meals. We have kids who eat at school on Friday and won't eat again until at school on Monday."

Union Gospel Mission has been feeding the hungry on Thanksgiving for more than 50 years.

Vivian Young of St. Paul is among the grateful. She found out about the Thanksgiving meal distribution a few weeks ago, while visiting the Salvation Army to seek services for her two teenage granddaughters.

Like thousands of others, Young registered for the meal; Union Gospel Mission requires no proof of low income, only a photo ID and a recent piece of mail (registration was held about three weeks ago).

On Tuesday, she and thousands of others redeemed a voucher and walked out with a little bit of kindness.

"If I didn't have this," Young said, "I couldn't give my family a Thanksgiving dinner. I would have come up with something. But this is so nice."

Inside a room normally used as a dining hall, volunteer Melissa Cotch helped bag boxes of stuffing and cans of peas, corn, yams and cranberry sauce. Those bags would be combined with potatoes donated by a local farmer and a frozen turkey for each meal.

Each bag is worth about $40, Molohon said. About half the food is donated, half bought at market prices.

For Cotch and her husband, this is their second year of volunteering. "Feeding those who are hungry is what we can do as Christians," she said.

Handing the turkeys to volunteers, who then carried the food to people's cars, was Larry Anderson, 62, of Buffalo. Anderson is a Union Gospel Mission client who came to the program Oct. 7.

"I'm the middle man," he joked, before talking about how service helps his sobriety. "This is responsibility. This allows us to serve others, which is part of our recovery."

Anderson will be among the 300 or so other Union Gospel Mission clients who will share a meal together on Thanksgiving Day. Like Walker, he said it feels good to set aside his own struggles and help someone else.

"I'm finding out another way to live, to give back."

James Walsh • 651-925-5041