Ron and his dog Trigger enjoyed a Christmas dinner on Wednesday afternoon, in the same kitchen as several hundred other Chattanoogans.
"I have been very, very blessed," Ron, who declined to share his last name, said while eating at the Community Kitchen. "Better than I deserve."
A regular at the Community Kitchen, a homelessness feeding program and cold weather shelter in downtown Chattanooga, Ron was one of between 600 and 650 community members who celebrated Christmas at the kitchen this year.
"I've been mad at - I've been critical of this place before," Ron said, adding that his late brother had taught him to appreciate the shelter. "There are a lot of people doing a lot of good here. It's helping a lot of people and there's no way to know how many people they've helped or how much they've helped, so I appreciate this place and most of these people."
After dinner, Ron went out to check on his beloved Trigger, a 7-month-old red nose hound and pit bull mix, who had been "spoiled" with ham scraps from several other diners from the kitchen that afternoon. As he and others cycled out, more of the city's less fortunate filed in, continuing a queue of diners who celebrated their Christmas with the help of the community.
"Just spend some time with them"
A couple of dozen community members volunteered to prepare and serve dinner, and, perhaps more importantly, spend time with those at the shelter.
"I've been a nurse for 30 years, so for me, I'm happy to come out and help cook, but I really like to get some face time with these guys," Dean Sodeman, an Australian ex-pat who has lived in Chattanooga for five months said while handing out candy to diners. "I've just gotten here today, but I've worked the kitchen here before, and I probably will later, but it's just nice to come spend time with them when they may not have anyone to talk to."
Others like Kathy Hannah, and her husband Butch, who have been volunteering every Christmas and every other Thanksgiving for several years, do it because "that's what the holidays are all about."
More Info
For more information on donations, volunteering or getting help:Visit the Community Kitchen at 727 E 11 St. between 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and or go to www.homelesschattanooga.org/
In addition to dinner, around 650 backpacks with cold weather accessories, hygiene products, blankets and nonperishable food items were distributed by volunteers and St. Nick himself.
"It's the best to see the kids get theirs from Santa," Shana Hilson, who began the Dragonfly Effect program five years ago to demonstrate the needs of the homeless to her own children, said of the eight-month process of collecting and compiling the backpacks. "We start every year around late spring or summer and begin collecting backpacks. Sometimes we will donate some to a tent city throughout the year, but Christmas with Santa is our main event."
"Year-round and day-to-day"
While the backpacks, Santa and the traditional Christmas dinner made Wednesday seem special, Christensen says the turnout of around 600 people in need highlights the necessity of volunteers throughout the year as they provide three meals a day, seven days a week.
"Homelessness is not a Christmas or a Thanksgiving or a holiday problem," Community Kitchen CEO Jens Christensen said, noting that this year's abnormally warm holiday may desensitize some poeple. "People think of this as a seasonal or a holidays-only problem or that homelessness is only dangerous when it's cold, but it's not. Homelessness is year-round and day-to-day. It's important that people volunteer when the holidays are over."
While the city continues to grapple with chronic homelessness, Christensen hopes that more community members will volunteer more consistently to help the Community Kitchen.
"Homelessness is going to happen when people can't make a good enough wage to live in the available housing, and I haven't seen much of a difference in that over the last few years," Christensen said. "We have people and we're going to continue to have people who are homeless and the only way we can help them is if we have volunteers. ... If there's one take away from this, I hope it's that people understand that these are real people and they deserve to be taken care of, not just at the holidays."
Contact Sarah Grace Taylor at 423-757-6416 or at staylor@timesfreepress.com. Follow her on Twitter at @_sarahgtaylor.