TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. — Many of us with family or a close knit group of friends might take for granted how lucky we are. But unfortunately, countless Americans across the country are alone on Thanksgiving.
On Treasure Island, every Thanksgiving since 2008, Paradise Lutheran Church and its army of volunteers have worked to make this holiday special for everyone they can.
"So this was a real lifeline for me that first year because he passed away in October, and in November, I was able to come, and that was a good thing," Joan Smith told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.
Smith is a volunteer at the church and helped organize this year's event.
"Oh, we're so blessed. It's a blessing for us to receive these people," Smith said. "I'm sad that there are people who don't have a place to lay their head at night. So, we all have a lot of work to do not on Thanksgiving Day but every day of the year."
Church volunteers cooked meals for more than a hundred people this year. The only requirement was to bring your plate and utensils, but if you forgot, they had you covered on that too.
We sat down with Angie Aponte and Paulette Segovis. Both live in the same senior community.
"Would you have someone at home today?" Paluska asked Aponte.
"No. None of us do. There are many people that have families, but they can't be with them, or they don't have families at all, so we come here," Aponte said. "It reinforces my friendship with these ladies, and it shows how great God is. I'm a religious person. I believe God has been good to us that he allowed us to have this meal."
"Miss Angie over here talked me into coming this year," Segovis said.
"If you didn't have this place, where would you go? Paluska asked.
"I would have stayed home with the dog," Segovis laughed.
"This is better right?" Paluska asked.
"Yeah, this is good," she said.
