Juanita Garcia was smiling Tuesday as she walked toward the table loaded with frozen turkeys, bags of potatoes and other Thanksgiving trimmings.
“This is enabling us to have a dinner, because I am living on child support,” said Garcia, 42, who has a 2-year-old daughter and 20-year-old son.
Garcia’s was one of 1,250 low-income families to receive a Thanksgiving meal — “a banquet in a box” — that included everything from the bird and pumpkin- pie filling to stuffing and instant gravy.
The food distribution at the Crossing, a shelter for homeless people on Smith Road, is an annual outreach event for the Denver Rescue Mission.
Tuesday’s distribution of food boxes was the largest in the group’s history.
About 30 volunteers were on hand. “I’m just giving back to the community,” said Tim Powell, who was packing potatoes into bags that were then put in wagons along with a turkey and other food. A volunteer pulled each wagon and helped families load the contents into their cars.
“I live in senior, subsidized housing,” said a woman who identified herself only as Luann. “There are three or four elderly ladies I am cooking for, so this really means a lot.”
