Annual Thanksgiving Celebration dinner feeds thousands
Thousands packed into the Downtown Convention Center Thursday, to receive a hearty turkey dinner and a chance to watch the Detroit-Green Bay game.
Supplied were 250 turkeys,300 pies, 200 bags of rolls, and27 seven cases of potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce green beans.
“Oh my goodness, they’ve been preparing this for the last two weeks out,” said Operation H.O.P.E. founder Angel Gomez.
But the idea to host a thanksgiving dinner big enough to feed 5,000 began in 2005 with Mayor John Cook and his wife Tram.
The Cooks along with the Salvation Army, Rescue and other civic organizations pooled their resources and created what you see today: thousands of impoverished El Pasoans feasting.
“It’s better to give than to receive,” Cook said. “And that’s what thanksgiving is about. That’s what this tradition is about.You see El Pasoans from all walks of life coming out here and serving their fellow man. It’s a great, great tradition. I hope it never disappears from El Paso. And I think we’re going to have this being apart of El Paso’s legacy, people caring about people.”
MAYOR COOK TELLS ME IT’S NOT JUST THE PEOPLE EATING WHO FEEL BLESSED, IT’S THE PEOPLE SERVING.
HE SAYS THE VOLUNTEERS ARE ACTUALLY MOVED THE MOST.//
