SALT LAKE CITY — Three generations of Tyler Cline’s family members were at the Salt Lake City Salvation Army Thursday morning for their 27th consecutive year of preparing Thanksgiving meals.
“We just kept going back because we absolutely loved it, [it] was a wonderful opportunity to see the energy, the excitement, the happiness that everybody was there,” he said. “It's always good to see the smile on people's faces when we're showing up at their door.”
Lt. Kate Combs with the Salvation Army said a lot goes into feeding thousands of people, year after year.
“We have a chef and high school students that prepare all the food for us, and then we have hundreds of volunteers that will come to either drive out the meals or plate up their Thanksgiving pumpkin pie,” she said.
Volunteers prepared all the meals in individual portions because the majority of the food would go to people with nowhere to go this Thanksgiving.
“We understand that many of these people are going to be alone today, and so knowing that we have a piece of the action and be able to provide something and having someone come to their door and greet them today is really, really special,” Combs said.
Thanksgiving is just one day that Meals on Wheels brings food to older adults who are homebound and can’t prepare meals themselves, said Jeremy Hart, the associate director of Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services.
“Thanksgiving is a holiday that is very important to a lot of people, right? And it's kind of just the fabric of us, and to be able to get a meal that you weren't expecting, or you don't have family around to have Thanksgiving with, to get that meal, but then also to get a visit on Thanksgiving is really important,” he said.
Cline doesn’t think this annual family tradition will end any time soon.
“We have plenty in our lives, and so just doing a simple a simple thing is serving up meals for people who need it is just a simple way to show that gratitude.”
