Thanksgiving Feat: Equinox feeds thousands at annual feast

Stressed out about planning the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner? Imagine feeding 8,500...

Every year Equinox, Inc. serves dinner to thousands of needy, homeless, and homebound in the Capital Region, a sprawling effort that begins months before the actual meal. The Annual Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner started in 1969 when a group of University at Albany students couldn't travel home for the holidays. The students went to the First Presbyterian Church in Center Square, and cooked up a meal. They has such a good time, they decided to do it again the following year, and Equinox joined in the effort. Today the Thanksgiving meal is an annual tradition, feeding 500 at the church, and delivering an estimated 8,000 meals to shut-ins across the region.

This feat couldn't be accomplished without help from the thousands of people who donate their time, money, and supplies, said Patti Tullgren, Adult Services Coordinator for Equinox.

Just the amount of food Equinox has to pull together is staggering: 8,000 pounds of turkey, 2,000 pounds of ham, 2,800 pounds of yams, 940 pies, 19,500 pieces of fruit. That's just the beginning of the shopping list. Joan Harrington is so excited she hits the red button on her desk. Music blares out, and she and Tullgren do a little cheering. It's been a good day, Harrington explains. With today's donations from a farmer in Schoharie--800 pounds of potatoes and 500 pounds of carrots--Harrington has successfully reached her goal for potatoes and carrots, she says.

Harrington has been volunteering for the event for eight years, soliciting donations from organizations and individuals. The event never ceases to amaze her. "It's such a real picture of this community, and who gets involved and who helps," she said.

It takes a lot of materials to get this dinner off the ground. "It's little things you never even think of," said Tullgren. Volunteers like Harrington coordinate the donations of all the food--from turkeys to cherries--and all the supplies, including hair nets, refrigerated trucks, and to-go containers. Tullgren shows me the basement. It was packed with donated supplies just this morning, she said, before donated moving vans came to truck the boxes over to the plaza this afternoon. Here and there, boxes of pumpkins and gourds wait for the next trip. They'll probably use them to decorate the tables, she explains. Against the wall, there's a box of reusuable grocery bags from a local insurance agency--there was a misprint on the bags, and rather than throw them away, they donated them to the event, she said. These will be used to carry the meals into the home. Here, it seems, everything is put to good use, and nothing is wasted. "You read about all of this doom and gloom in the paper, and some people can't afford to help out this year, but for everyone that drops off, you have someone right behind them willing to lend a hand. It's amazing," said Tullgren.

Once all the food and supplies are in place, the cooking begins. In the week leading up to the dinner, thousands of volunteers swarm the Empire State Plaza after-hours and take over all the kitchens in the Concourse area. Every evening until the wee hours, they show up in shifts to peel potatoes, cook turkeys, and prepare fruit cups. All the cooked meals--some 8,000--are packed and stored in the refrigeration units there--also donated. Meanwhile, preparation is also going on at the church, where volunteers are getting ready to serve a sit-down dinner to another 500. Volunteers set up long tables with linen tableclothes and handmade decorations. "We make sure everyone really feels like they're having a nice sit-down dinner," said Tullgren.

On Thanksgiving Day, hundreds more volunteers show up at the church to serve dinner to the waiting crowds, and thousands more volunteers line up at the plaza to ferry the prepared meals out to shut-ins across the region, taking time out of their holidays to deliver a homecooked meal to the less fortunate.

"It's an amazing outpouring of community," said Tullgren.

Lea Bosquez also mans the phones at Equinox, recruiting volunteers and signing up people to receive meals. On Thanksgiving Day you will find her right here, still manning the phones, just to making sure everyone that signed up gets their meals. Bosquez has been volunteering with Equinox for four years, and says she keeps coming back because it is so rewarding. "People are really thankful," she said. "It comes through in their voices on the phone, and they say, 'Oh, thank you.' or 'God bless you, honey.' You can tell it really means a lot to them."

Dinner will be served at First Presbyterian Church on the corner of State Street and Willett Street in Albany from 1-4pm on Thanksgiving Day, first come, first serve. If you would like to make a donation or volunteer your time, or sign up for a meal, please contact Equinox at 434-0131. Donations can also be dropped off at The Corporate Offices of Equinox @ 95 Central Avenue in Albany. Equinox still needs a number of turkeys and hams to make their meal complete.