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HOPE exceeds Thanksgiving delivery goal

By David W. Shelton | November 25, 2007 |

This Thursday, the Hispanic Organization for Progress and Education (HOPE) delivered 31 complete thanksgiving dinners, exceeding their goal of 30. Local activists, ministries, and civic groups came together to support HOPE and other organizations that worked to bring meals to area families.

The group’s effort was propelled even more once Kang Tae Myong, owner of Sakura Japanese Restaurant, committed to include it in the list of three organizations that would be given a combined 60 turkeys. The restaurateur announced their donation during a Human Relations Commission meeting held on October 25th. Mr. Kang is also a member of the Clarksville Human Relations Commission as well as an adviser and former president of the Korean American Association.

Twenty of the turkeys were given to HOPE, with the other forty divided between the Salvation Army and Lighthouse Ministries. The turkeys were distributed at a special event at the restaurant on Monday, November 19th. The turkey-dispensing event was coordinated by the Clarksville Human Relations Commission, with City Mayor Johnny Piper on hand to help hand out the birds.

Because of Sakura’s generous donation, HOPE members only needed to acquire at least ten more turkeys and the rest of the trimmings for their commitment of thirty meals. Rosa Ponce, the coordinator of the event said they had received enough donations to get what they needed at the Sango Wal-Mart, but wasn’t sure of how many volunteers they’d need for doing the actual shopping. Thankfully, several people showed up to help gather the supplies.

Each of the volunteers grabbed a cart and a list. Two hours and a wagon train of at least six shopping carts later, the volunteers had collected all the food they needed. The small army of volunteers was aided by store employees to load for the trip back to the HOPE office on Legion Street. Ponce later said that she had no idea how they’d shop for all that food, but the volunteers arrived at a moment’s notice. “I thank God for those volunteers,” she said.

Once back at the HOPE office, they started separating the food into separate baskets. Instead of woven baskets, they opted to use heavy-duty laundry baskets which the families could use long after the holiday. Ponce later said that she had the pleasure of delivering two of the baskets. “Those families were so shocked to see the baskets with all the food and a huge turkey,” she said. “They thanked me over and over again.”

HOPE President Elizabeth Valdez-Adamski said that they opened the center at 10:00 AM, and several area pastors helped out with the deliveries. She stayed behind to wait for the families that were able to pick up their baskets. Eva Vasquez, daughter of the late Juan Julian Vasquez, also stopped by to help deliver a basket to one of the families. Of course, Valdez-Adamski’s work was far from done, as she later delivered more than a half-dozen baskets later in the evening. She said that it felt good to know that they made sure that the families had a nice Thanksgiving.

Ponce shared the sentiment and reflected on the week’s event with a secure satisfaction. “The aching in my body from putting all those baskets together was definitely worth it just to see the expressions on the faces of those families,” she said. “I hope that in a small way, these families know there are people that are willing to help.” Ponce thanked everyone who helped in the effort, including the Human Relations Commission, the Rossview High School Spanish classes, and everyone who donated time or money to help.

All photography by David W. Shelton

About David W. Shelton

Posts by David W. Shelton are copyright (c)2006, 2007, 2008 by the author. All rights reserved. David W. Shelton is a writer, speaker and activist in Clarksville, and serves on the Clarksville Human Relations Commission. His passions include film and complete equality for all people, and he has worked in various capacities to work toward this goal. He is currently an illustrator, graphic designer, trainer, and is the owner of Imagine Media Solutions. He is an Adobe® Certified Instructor in Photoshop®.

Web Site: http://www.skippingtothepiccolo.com/

Email: dwshelton@charter.net

Sections: News
Topics: Elizabeth Valdez-Adamski, Johnny Piper, Rosa Ponce, Sakura, Thanksgiving

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