It took four dozen volunteers Monday to transform an empty convention space into a setting fit for a Thanksgiving feast for 10,000 people. On Tuesday they'll be joined by an additional 1,000 volunteers to serve Central Market's sixth annual "Feast of Sharing" in Fort Worth.
This year's feast will serve up 2,500 pounds of sliced turkey breast, 200 gallons of gravy, 2,000 pumpkin pies and all of the fixings that make a Thanksgiving meal complete. But in the wake of a mass shooting in a small Texas church that left many grasping for answers and hope, volunteers want to set the table with something more than just food. They want to set it with joy.
"We're able to provide a positive. We're able to provide a happy. And you know right now, to get that, I think you hold onto it with everything you've got," said Central Market employee Angelica Reyes.
Reyes is in her eighth year of giving her time to provide a holiday experience for those who might not otherwise get it.
"People literally look forward to coming in, and to be able to enjoy their time with their children in our zones, to be able to get assistance from our agencies, to be able to eat their food and to carry that away, because they're not always guaranteed that tomorrow," Reyes said.
General manager Austin Jourde says those who give get just as much back.
"I think if you can do thanks and gratitude more often every day in your own lives, there's a lot of positivity around that," Jourde said.
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That is why the employees and community members who come together on this one day each year to serve hope they're spreading joy that will stretch beyond one meal.
"You just don't always know how to make a difference, and providing something like that to our community, to be able to make a difference, is great through and through, because they carry that with them. They walk away and say, 'I want someone else to be able to feel this,'" Reyes said.
Fort Worth's "Feast of Sharing" will be held in the Amon Carter Exhibit Hall at the Will Rogers Memorial Center on Lancaster Avenue. Meals will be served from 2 to 7 p.m.
Free transportation will be provided through the Fort Worth Transportation Association.
Central Market will hold a "Feast of Sharing" in Dallas at Fair Park on Thursday.
