Thomas Breen photos
Luz Ayala (center) with friend Paula De La Cruz, and plenty of food ...
... at Friday's Thanksgiving giveaway at Loaves & Fishes.
Luz Ayala lifted up a frozen turkey wrapped in plastic and netting and talked through the culinary transformation that bird will go through on Thursday for Thanksgiving.
She’ll peel back the whole turkey’s skin and stuff it with a blended mix of green peppers, onions, olive oil, cilantro, and garlic. Then she’ll baste the bird in butter and pop it in the oven as she works on making a side of stuffing — also filled with meat, she said apologetically to this vegetarian reporter — for her visiting family members sitting down for dinner at her Columbus Avenue table.
She’s ready for that annual big cook. And, thanks to a bustling food pantry turkey giveaway in Wooster Square, she won’t have to worry about stretching her budget to buy the meal’s centerpiece.
Ayala was one of hundreds of New Haveners who showed up to the driveway behind St. Paul & St. James Episcopal Church at 57 Olive St. midday Friday to pick up a bag full of Thanksgiving meal ingredients from the local food pantry, Loaves & Fishes. That free food distribution before next Thursday’s holiday took place on the same day as a number of other giveaways, including ones hosted by the Elicker administration at senior centers across the city.
Loaves & Fishes Executive Director Lorrice Grant and State Rep. Pat Dillon.
According to Loaves & Fishes Executive Director Lorrice Grant, the Wooster Square-based food pantry planned on giving out 700 turkeys on Friday, along with 140 chickens and hundreds of volunteer-packed brown paper bags of carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, string beans, and more, all sourced from Connecticut Foodshare.
“We found that we had an opportunity to give extra protein and veggies” to New Haveners in need this holiday season, Grant said about Friday’s holiday meal distribution, which she said will continue on Saturday.
Rajib Saha picks up a bag of veggies from volunteer Jisel Cordero.
Ayala was one of those New Haveners to show up to Friday’s giveaway to help her get ready for a full Thanksgiving meal with family next week.
“This is good,” she said. “It means food on the table” for her and her daughters and grandkids.
Wayne Sims.
Wayne Sims also swung by the Wooster Square church on Friday to pick up a free turkey and vegetables — though he’s pretty certain that he won’t be cooking or eating this food, but instead will likely give it away.
That’s because he doesn’t have access to a microwave or stove or kitchen, he said. He said he had been living with his elderly mom in West Haven, but had to leave when she passed away. He said he’s recently rented out two self-storage units in New Haven, and has been living out of that business’s men’s bathroom. He said he’s on the waitlist for subsidized apartments in West Haven and Naugatuck, and hopes that one of those housing applications comes through soon.
He doesn’t know where he’ll be for Thanksgiving itself. He’s not confident he’ll be in a place where he can cook the food he picked up on Friday.
“Sometimes I put a smile on my face, even when I’m crying,” he said. After all, he said about his current sleeping arrangements, “it ain’t no fun being in the bathroom.”
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While the gift of food is something to celebrate, I can't help but wonder when the extreme inequality tht has developed in the US during my lifetime will be reversed.
We casually approve billions for weapons and claim we can't afford universal healthcare. Mexico has basic national healthcare for its working people. Most of western Europe and Canada have had it for generations.
I look forward to the day when people can afford housing, health care and an education.