Little more than a week after an electrical fire destroyed the women's shelter at the Bea Gaddy Family Center, Executive Director Cynthia Brooks was flush with reasons to be thankful.
She and siblings John Fowler and Sandra E. Briggs were counting their blessings yesterday as they prepared to start the annual Thanksgiving dinner at Patterson Park Recreation Center that is part of their mother's legacy.
They were thankful for the friends who took over paying for the center's gas and electricity bill after it had climbed to $6,000 and the power was about to be shut off.
And for the various contractors who walked into the building, ravaged by fire earlier this month, and restored it so that 48 hours later the damage was largely a memory.
And for the hundreds of volunteers who left their homes yesterday morning knowing their Thanksgiving meals would later be on the table - and wanting to ensure that the less fortunate had theirs.
"I have so much to be thankful for," said Brooks, dressed in red, as she addressed those poised to serve the people in a long line that snaked around the building. "I could stay here the rest of the day just naming people that made this day a success."
She stood in a gym transformed into a dining hall, where red- and white-decked tables were surrounded by others laden with food: turkey and stuffing, corn and mashed potatoes, cake and pie.
In the far corners of the room sat piles of plastic bags stuffed with whole turkeys or canned and dry goods, meant to feed those coming through in the days ahead.
For many, the dinner was a first. Spurred by dire economic times or just curiosity, the newcomers quickly embraced the warm, festive atmosphere surrounding the dinner, which the late Councilwoman Gaddy began serving in 1981. Gaddy died in 2001, but her children have continued the annual event.
"It's not just about eating here. It's about family, rejoicing," said Terrie Moore, a first-timer.
Next to her, Omeria Lewis handed her plate to a passing volunteer carrying a trash bag. "I can't do any more," she said, smiling. She placed her square of cake in a zip-top bag, for later.
Lewis, who was attending her fourth Bea Gaddy dinner and has turned to the center for help before, had dragged Moore to the dinner. She also had the other neighbors on their Patterson Park-area block in mind, Lewis said, with plans to cook the whole turkey she would receive and pass it around.
