Woman leads mission to provide Thanksgiving dinner to 150 South Philly families

A local group gave out meals to those in need Tuesday. But, as with everything in 2020, it had to be different this year. They didn’t want to hold a big get-together, so instead, they got the names of families and went door-to-door to give out fixings for Thanksgiving dinner. 

"We have turkeys and hams to give to the families," said Jessie Alejandro. Trucks and cars filled with baskets of food. 

"We have rice, we have beans, we have mashed potatoes and we have gravy. Anything you name as for a meal for Thanksgiving you’re going to have there," she said. All for families that need a little help especially because of the tough year we've had. 

"Most of the people that we're serving are undocumented as well so they don't have anything. They don't have no job," said Alejandro who is a priest and the appointed Hispanic Commissioner for South Philly.  

"We couldn't do the Thanksgiving feast in Kensington like we always do every year and we try to figure out a way we could still reach out," she said. This year Alejandro reached out to community groups in South Philly to find families and posted on social media the need for food donations. This evening many of the donors and volunteers like Bill McKinley met in a South Philly parking lot to load cars and make deliveries. 

"We delivered food before and it was really rewarding to see that happen," said McKinley. We followed Anna Montanez for drop-offs. Her first was to Beatrice Torres and her children. 

"She said it means a lot because her family is out of work right now so this is really going to help them out," said Montanez translating for Torres. We met another woman and her son who were also thankful. 

"I think it's like turkey and stuff like that,” said the little boy. Alejandro says it's about spreading hope and love to others. 

"We know some are going through a difficult time but we are all in this all together," she said. 

Alejandro has been organizing an annual Thanksgiving Feast for more than 20 years. They served more than 150 families. 

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