Thankful for some food — but mostly for still being alive

Stomachs growled as hundreds of homeless crammed into the dining room at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission on Wednesday for a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Prep work for the 1,200 to 1,500 meals served began Monday as crews cooked 140 turkeys, mashed 500 pounds of potatoes and sliced 150 pumpkin pies. Around 800 to 1,000 meals will be served Thursday. All the food is donated.

During a holiday season known for overindulgence, some at the mission said they were thankful just to have some food in their bellies.

For 23-year-old Jessica, who did not give her last name, the holiday marks a milestone: She's alive despite abusing drugs for 10 years. Since July, she has been living at the Shelter of Hope at the mission's campus on Bonanza Road. Jessica, a divorced mother of two, is in a yearlong rehabilitation program for heroin abuse.

"I'm very thankful to have another chance at life, a chance to be alive, not just in my addiction but alive and healthy," Jessica said, while pushing around a forkful of cranberries. "I've come too close to death too many times. I'm thankful for everything I have right now. It's not much, but I don't think I've ever been more thankful."

There's really nowhere else to go, she added.

"Since I've been here in the program, this is where my family is now," Jessica said. "This is making me realize what I have."

Across the table sat a 30-year-old woman picking at some stuffing on her plate. The woman, who refused to give her name, said she's trying to get into a program for her addictions to cocaine, methamphetamine and alcohol.

"If I wasn't here, I'd probably be out there getting high," she said. "I'm just thankful to be alive."

She has been granted one week to stay at the shelter but will be back on the streets once those seven days are up.

"I'm trying to get an extension, if I can, so I can get into a program," she said. "I just got help to get me a Nevada ID."

John Fogal, the mission's director of development, said he has noticed an increase in people using mission services since the economic downturn. In addition to the growing numbers, there has been a shift in demographics, he said.

"We'll see an increase in families whereas typically you'd see a single man or woman," Fogal said.

He is quick to point out that not everyone is homeless. Some are struggling families with bare cupboards.

"Some people just don't have the means to provide their families a Thanksgiving meal," Fogal said. "Some are out on the streets, and some are trying to make ends meet. Overwhelmingly, the majority is homeless."

Volunteers handed out socks and blankets to people as they left the dining hall. The blankets were first to run out.

"We've been doing this for 40 years," Fogal said. "This has a sense of stability and a place of belonging. They know the Rescue Mission will be here to help them on Thanksgiving and in their time of need. That has a security factor to it. Communitywide, it brings out the best in people."

Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.