For more than 70 years, Light of Life Rescue Mission has provided for Pittsburghers in need on Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day is a day of tradition for so many, whether it's watching football together, the early-morning turkey trots, or generations-long family gatherings.
On Pittsburgh's North Side, however, for the Light of Life Rescue Mission, a tradition has carried on for more than 70 years. Each Thanksgiving morning, volunteers gather together from the early morning hours until the evening to prepare, cook, and serve meals to those in need.
This tradition has been going on for 73 years, and beginning around 4 a.m., Light of Life gets to work with the hope of feeding more than 1,000 people.
"This is year 73, we started this in 1952, so 73 years of providing Thanksgiving and hope on Thanksgiving Day to those in need," said Light of Life Rescue Mission Assistant Executive Director Doug Smith.
Starting around 4 a.m., the work gets going. Volunteers head into the kitchen to prepare all the fixings, from turkey to stuffing, gravy, and vegetables.
Once the food is prepped, cooked, and ready to go, it heads over to their emergency shelter, where they begin handing out a delicious Thanksgiving meal to those in need.
However, while Thanksgiving Day is a big day for these volunteers at Light of Life, the work continues both before and after the holiday.
"We always say Thanksgiving at Light of Life is a Pittsburgh tradition," Smith said. "Our week kicks off on Monday. Monday, we did a Thanksgiving dinner box outreach and provided 2,800 Thanksgiving dinner boxes to families in need so that they could have a Thanksgiving. It's a great way to kick off the week, and today we'll serve over 1,000 meals here. This is kind of our Super Bowl week at Light of Life, and we're just honored and grateful to do it for those in need."
Today, it won't just be providing meals at their emergency shelter, Light of Life will also be delivering meals to local high-rises and other places where people are in need.
"We've been doing this forever," Smith said. "There are about 15 local high-rises that we serve in the North Side area, and we're getting about 800 meals ready for that, and volunteers will come here in the morning, and they'll hand deliver those meals to each of those high-rises, serve the residents there, and make sure they have a great Thanksgiving. It's been a huge blessing to those high-rises over the years."
To go along with the food they'll be providing, with winter weather on the horizon, they will also be holding a winter coat distribution. As Pittsburgh winters often remain almost unpredictable, it's a service that helps those who need the warmth.
"Our outreach center will be open throughout the day. We plan on handing out 700 winter jackets that were donated by donors, which was so thoughtful," Smith explained. "We'll also be handing out around 500 winter kits to make sure people have what they need to stay warm in the winter."
After more than seven decades, for those who dedicate their time and energy to help those in need, it's a tradition that never gets old.
"We always say that hope begins with a meal," Smith said. "Everyone who walks through our doors is in need of hope, especially on a day like today, so for us to be able to provide that, we want to make sure everyone feels loved, seen, and heard when they walk through our doors. Whether it's a volunteer greeting them, or us handing them a plate of food so they can enjoy a Thanksgiving meal, we just want them to feel hope. Hopefully, if they need a next step, we can help them with that after their meal."
"We start at about 4:00 [a.m.]," volunteer Don Waite said.
Waite is very used to the Turkey Day wake-up call, as this is his 29th year volunteering on Thanksgiving Day.
They call him the "Green Bean Man" – because he cooks the green beans for the Thanksgiving meal.
"We're going to cook about 600 pounds of green beans this morning," he said.
The workers? The volunteers? They really believe in what they do every year.
"It's about getting people fed who are possibly dealing with the food insecurity now – each and every day," Kevin Hutchinson, who works at Light of Life, said.
The work is well underway on the North Side, and if you, or someone you know, needs that hope, you can see all of their Thanksgiving work on their website at this link.