Volunteers spend their Thanksgiving feeding others

Sixty turkeys. Thirty hams. Mounds and mounds of mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce.

And, to top it all off, lots of pie.

It isn't easy to make Thanksgiving brighter for Cape Girardeau's needy, but the 168 volunteers who showed up at the Salvation Army on Thursday were ready to try. They ended up serving 505 meals through deliveries and inside the gym at Sprigg and Good Hope streets.

"I was pretty impressed with the response," said Major Michael Thomas, who came to oversee the Salvation Army here in July. "The community really pitched in."

It was the 21st year for the dinner, but the second and first, respectively, for sisters Sarah Michel, 17, and Kathy Michel, 22, to volunteer. They spent their morning hopping in and out of a minivan, making deliveries.

"We want to help those who need it on this day, people who are less fortunate and can't have a home-cooked meal," said Kathy, a certified nurse assistant at the Missouri Veterans Home.

Without exception, meal recipients greeted the sisters enthusiastically. Gladys Dickerson said she regretted asthma would keep her from eating at the Salvation Army building this year.

"It's good fellowship up there," she said. "We're just not able to cook, and I get outside and just can't breathe."

Others met the girls on their front porches, their eyes lighting up at the prospect of a traditional meal.

The Salvation Army offers a variety of services for the community and is in the process of its annual red-kettle fund-raising drive. For more information, call 335-7000.

hhall@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 121