Thanksgiving meals provided to Columbus' needy take on added resonance amid pandemic

This is the time of year when Mary Wallace would be looking forward to a Thanksgiving Day gathering with her six children and her large extended family.

Fate, though, had different plans.

Wallace is not only living through the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which will keep countless families apart this Thanksgiving, but the 56-year-old also is grappling with her own personal circumstances, which will drastically alter how she celebrates the holiday this year.

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After losing her warehouse job in 2018, Wallace relied for a time on her savings to pay rent and medical bills when her health declined. When the money ran out in March, Wallace had no choice but to seek refuge at Lutheran Social Services' Faith Mission homeless shelter.

The warm meals and place to sleep have meant everything to Wallace as she waits to hear if her recent application for housing through the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority will be approved. But as Thanksgiving approaches, Wallace takes little comfort in knowing it will be a day she spends without her family while in a shelter filled with strangers.

The factors that brought others to the shelter might vary wildly from Wallace's, but all likely share a sense of loneliness and isolation that is felt even more keenly around the holidays, said Sue Villilo, assistant vice president of community-based services at Lutheran Social Services. To provide some respite from their problems, Faith Mission serves an annual Thanksgiving feast to all staying at its shelter.

It's a meal Faith Mission has served for at least 10 years, Villilo said, but this year it carries added resonance as the pandemic rages on.

For more than eight months, the COVID-19 has devastated Ohioans in myriad ways. Many have lost family members or jobs to the coronavirus, leaving them without loved ones or incomes.

As a result, social service organizations that feed the hungry each Thanksgiving say they see a greater need for such charity as food insecurity becomes a grim reality for more Ohioans than ever. Many of those that have served Thanksgiving meals for years are now expanding their reach, while other groups join the effort for the first time.

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“It’s not changing anyone’s situation by any stretch, but it’s really giving them a moment of relief from all the things they're dealing with,” Villilo said.

The 275 people filling out Faith Mission's shelter can still expect a turkey dinner prepared by local motorcycle clubs with all the fixings — collard greens, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes — but they won't be able to enjoy it together in a communal space. Instead, residents will have to eat in their own assigned areas surrounded by only those they are staying with at the shelter.

Yet in a year filled with hardship, Wallace said she will cherish a meal that reminds her of better times.

“It’s going to be different than what I'm used to, but I'm still going to be thankful,” Wallace said. “I will appreciate it so much to have a cooked Thanksgiving meal.”

Wallace is one of thousands of central Ohioans who will benefit from a free Thanksgiving meal provided by one of dozens of groups before or on Thanksgiving day.

This will be the fourth year that Crossroads, a large nondenominational Christian church, has hosted a Thanksgiving food drive for people in Columbus. However, this year organizers are hoping to expand from 50 donated meals to 200 after the church's partners communicated a greater need, said Pastor Vicki Diller.

It's a steep goal that Diller anticipates reaching now that Crossroads has grown its congregation once officially establishing its Columbus location in January at Grange Insurance Audubon Center following three years of streaming services from Cincinnati at a small theater.

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The local effort is part of 11 Crossroads Church locations in Ohio and Kentucky that will provide Thanksgiving meals for more than 100,000 people. 

In Columbus, Crossroads partners with two Clintonville schools — Indianola Informal K-8 School and The Graham School — to identify families in need. The community has been invited to shop from a list available online for items that they can donate Sunday at the Northland Performing Arts Center to fill hundreds of boxes that will be distributed to those families for Thanksgiving meals.

“We have a lot of community members who want to be part of seeing change in their community,” Diller said. “It’s a great way for them to think outside of themselves in the holiday season and do something practical that’s going to help people.” 

On Wednesday, Columbus police officers from the precinct covering South Linden went door to door in the neighborhood to hand out bags to about 150 residents containing a turkey, a box of stuffing, gravy mix, cranberry sauce, cornbread mix and green beans.

Dubbed "Cops & Gobblers," the inaugural effort was part of Starfish Assignment, a nonprofit organization with the mission of providing the resources and funding to officers for charitable projects. KEMBA Financial Credit Union provided $2,400 for the food.

"It's been a challenging year for everybody — people are really having a rough time and not being able to celebrate with family," said Nicole Banks, the organizer for Starfish Assignment Columbus. "This is a way to brighten up everyone's day. A lot of these people are hardworking people who may not have time to go to a charity and fill out paperwork to make sure they can get what they need. We can help them."

The Columbus Recreation & Parks department similarly debuted a Thanksgiving meal giveaway program this year. Community centers were transformed into drive-thru hubs to deliver individually wrapped Thanksgiving meals to more than 3,000 people, said Sophia Fifner, community relations chief of the department.

On Monday, the drive-thru will start at 10 a.m. at the Barnett Community Center, 1184 Barnett Road; 1 p.m. at the Feddersen Community Center, 3911 Dresden St.; and 2 p.m. at the Thompson Community Center, 1189 Dennison Ave. On Tuesday, the drive-thru will start at noon at the Tuttle Park Community Center, 240 W. Oakland Ave.; 3:30 p.m. at the Woodward Park Community Center, 5147 Karl Road; at 4 p.m. at the Howard Community Center, 2505 N. Cassady Ave., and the Sullivant Gardens Community Center, 755 Renick St.; and at 4:30 p.m. at the Dodge Park and Recreation Center, 667 Sullivant Ave.

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Patricia Wess was on her way home Monday after a line dancing class at the Marion Franklin Community Center on the Southeast Side when she was offered a Thanksgiving meal by volunteers outside. The 81-year-old happily accepted the offer, which provided a tasty lunch that day.

Like many, Wess is making the decision to forgo a large Thanksgiving gathering this year — she plans to have only immediate family members to her home for dinner — so she was touched by the gesture.

“It was nice, very nice,” said Wess, who lives in Berwick with her 88-year-old husband, Charles. “I enjoyed it.” 

Fifner said the goal of the effort is to make sure that families still have an opportunity to share a meal together in their homes despite the pandemic.

“During the pandemic, of all years it is crucial we are doing everything we can as a department to make sure families and individuals have some level of connectivity,” she said.

Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner contributed to this article.

elagatta@dispatch.com

@EricLagatta