Hundreds of Families Turn to Urban League for Thanksgiving Meals

As Lavenia Victor turned her car into the parking lot of University Preparatory Academy, where hundreds had gone to get free turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving, she stretched her arm out the window and waved at a volunteer.

Just after 9 a.m. Saturday, as she inched closer to the front of the line, her 5-year-old granddaughter, Emoni Wells, whom she has adopted from her daughter, played with a Barbie doll in the back seat. Behind them was a long row of cars that stretched a half-mile down the street.

“We have no family here,” said Victor, 45, who lives with Emoni in Singer Island. “It’s just she and I. It’s special to be able to sit down with my granddaughter, who’s now my daughter, and have a good meal.”

Victor and her granddaughter were among about 600 families who turned to the Urban League of Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach, FL) on Saturday for help ahead of Thanksgiving. It is a tradition that has endured for 20 years.

"The need in this community is great," said Patrick Franklin, President and CEO of the Urban League of Palm Beach County. The league partnered with the Feeding South Florida food bank for Saturday's distribution.

"People lined up at four o'clock this morning waiting for us to start at eight," Franklin said. "They know that we're going to be here for them."

To read the full article, click here