Piedmont nonprofits working to bring Thanksgiving cheer to people in need

For millions of North Carolinians, Thanksgiving is a time to share gratitude with loved ones and celebrate with plenty of food and drink. But for the roughly 17% of Triad residents living in poverty, this holiday can be a sad reminder of what they’re missing. Several nonprofit organizations are hoping to change that.

In Winston-Salem, The Shalom Project will provide 125 boxes of easy-to-prepare Thanksgiving meals to those who pre-ordered them. This year, Winston-Salem Rescue Mission's goal is to raise funds to cover just over 15,000 dinners.

Jan Kelly is the executive director for Samaritan Ministries in Winston-Salem, where a Thanksgiving Day feast will be shared in the soup kitchen. She says the value of traditions like these goes far beyond nutrition. 

"You know that may just be the hope that they need to keep going," says Kelly. "Holidays for most of us is a time where we’re spending time with family, we’re celebrating, we’re thinking about Christmas to come and all those things. But if you don’t have a home and you’re really struggling, holidays can be really difficult for you."

Greensboro Urban Ministry typically serves between 700 to 800 hot meals each day. On Thursday the menu at its Potters House Community Kitchen will include all the traditional holiday fare.  And Operation Turkey returns to Greensboro this week, where teams of volunteers will meet at United Institutional Baptist Church to prepare, package and deliver meals to the homeless and less fortunate.