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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Charities Around Town Offer Turkey Dinners
By Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Journal Staff Writer
Several charities are gearing up for their annual Thanksgiving turkey feasts.
One of the largest holiday meals will be at the Albuquerque Convention Center, which homeless shelter Joy Junction hosts with the city of Albuquerque on Wednesday. Joy Junction CEO Jeremy Reynalds said the event feeds about 1,500 people. He said only 80 out of the 140 turkeys the event needs were donated this year and Joy Junction had to buy the rest.
"Usually people bring turkeys in almost as a matter of course and we only have to ask for the trimmings. But I think that with the weak economy, people who have homes are very worried about whether they will end up having enough funds to have a Thanksgiving dinner themselves. As a result, they're being a little cautions about giving," Reynalds said in a statement.
The Albuquerque Rescue Mission, which hosts another large turkey feast, reported it has enough turkeys and will probably donate extras to other charities and needy families.
Sonya Warwick, spokeswoman for the Roadrunner Food Bank, said the agencies to which the food bank distributes are experiencing demand increases of up to 40 percent or more over the last year.
"We're seeing more first time users," Warwick said. "We're doing our best to keep up. Now that we're in a bigger building, we're able to accept more food. Our daily distribution has increased from 64,000 pounds of food to 90,000. But it still can't keep up with the demand that we're seeing."
Some free feasts:
• St. Martin's Hospitality Center: today, 9 to 11 a.m., 801 Arno SE
• Albuquerque Rescue Mission: today, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 525 Second SW
• Albuquerque Convention Center: Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 401 Second NE
• Albuquerque Indian Center: Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 105 Texas SE
• Joy Junction: Thursday, 2 to 6 p.m., 4500 Second SW
• Good Shepherd: Thursday, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., 218 Iron SW
• Salvation Army: Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 4301 Bryn Mawr NE
• St. Anne's Catholic Church: Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1400 Arenal SW
• La Mesa Presbyterian Church: Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 7401 Copper NE
• Project Share: Thursday, 4:30 to 6 p.m., 1515 Yale SE
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