CLEVELAND — The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Cleveland is back once again to carry on a long-standing tradition of passing out Thanksgiving meals to the community.
It’s something Meghan Pitrak tells News 5 they’ve been doing for more than 50 years, and none of it would be possible without help from volunteers.
“We literally couldn’t do it without them. There’s no way,” said Meghan Pitrak, the Emergency Assistance Services Director for Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland.
Every year when Thanksgiving rolls around, Samantha Wilson said she makes it a priority to give back.
“I do come down from time to time to help out,” said Wilson.
Whether its clearing off tables or doing prep work in the kitchen, Wilson is among many volunteers who keeps the operation at St. Augustine Hunger Center running.
“It makes me feel really good during the holidays that I can come down and be able to share myself with others,” said Wilson.
“I’m just really glad that we’re able to provide what people need. I had a voicemail the other day from a woman who was so tearful. She had to repeat the message twice. She said, I’m sorry. I’m just so emotional that you’re able and willing to provide a full Thanksgiving meal for me, my brother and my mother,” said Pitrak.
Pitrak tells News 5 it is a lot of work to feed the more than 15,000 people they serve.
“We deliver meals to people at home that might not have a holiday meal, without our help so that’s about 8500 home delivered meals. We’ll probably serve about 500 people here and then we have somewhere between 4500-5500 community partners that come and pick up all the fixings for a meal,” said Pitrak.
But, she says it’s all worth it to put a smile on someone’s face.
“It means everything to us,” said Pitrak.
Anyone is welcome to get a free meal at St. Augustine Hunger Center from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.
They’ll also have take-out options available too.
