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Salvation Army serves annual holiday feast to 1,500
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The Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving feast at the Glenwood Avenue facility on the city’s South Side.
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SERVING: State Rep. Ron Gerberry pours gravy over mashed potatoes at the Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving feast.
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SERVING: State Rep. Ron Gerberry pours gravy over mashed potatoes as Ron Massullo of Poland, regional liaison for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, shares a laugh with dinner-goers at the Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving feast. They were among 80 to 100 volunteers serving Wednesday’s lunch at the Glenwood Avenue facility on the city’s South Side.
A purple dragon and a fat man in red entertained the kids.
It wasn’t the turkey for Devon Bailey, 10, that made the meal at the Youngstown Salvation Army’s annual Thanksgiving Day feast, or even the pumpkin pie.
His favorite part?
“Santa Claus,” he said, pointing out the fat man in the red suit who sat in the corner of the room crowded with tables full of people enjoying turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and green beans.
But Devon and his cousins, Tony Staples, 12, and JazAvona Pruitt, 14, had to hand it to the chefs — the food was good.
The whole event was impressive, agreed Marcella Pruitt, JazAvona’s mother and the boys’ aunt. “It’s beautiful,” she said.
The group, from the South Side, was among the 1,500 people expected to attend the lunch Wednesday afternoon.
It took between 80 and 100 volunteers to pull it off, said Jean Malandro, director of social services for the Salvation Army on Glenwood Avenue.
Preparations began Monday with donations that included not only money, but food as well, she said.
The Turn Around Group from Warren brought 100 pies; Handel’s Ice Cream gave 30 turkeys; the Mahoning County Democratic Party donated 300 pounds of turkey; and Avion on the Water donated its services alongside the other volunteers
that included politicians, high-schoolers and the Youngstown Phantoms hockey team with its mascot, Sparky the dragon.
Behind the line of vats full of steaming food, servers included Struthers Mayor Terry Stocker; Struthers Auditor Tina Morell; Mahoning County Commissioners John McNally and Anthony Traficanti; state Reps. Ron Gerberry and Bob Hagan; Ron Massullo, representing secretary of state Jennifer Brunner; Youngstown council member Annie Gillam; and Austintown Township Trustee Dave Ditzler.
“I’m not a sweet potato fan, but these look good,” said Ditzler, spooning out the orange mush dotted with melted marshmallows. Next to him, Ray Reber of Youngstown was doing the same.
Reber’s an old hand at volunteering, he said. Before moving to Youngstown from Trumbull County 15 years ago, he was on the board of directors of the Trumbull County Salvation Army and the Trumbull County Red Cross. He was one of the founders of the Trumbull County Food Coalition. He and his wife, Pamela, have been volunteering for the Mahoning County Salvation Army for the last five years.
“We believe in it,” he said, adding that his own experiences drew him to volunteering. When he was a union president, he said, he saw people laid off. When his 7-year-old son needed an operation, the Red Cross was there with blood.
Volunteering is “good for the soul,” he said.
Next to him, 16-year-old Eddie Robinson explained what led him to volunteer — a program at East High School called Great Expectations.
The early-intervention program tracks students for four years, encouraging academic and social success.
“It’s fun helping other people,” he said.