Column: Facing ‘significant shortage,’ Pasadena’s Union Station could use your help for Dinner in the Park

Early on, when I was a kid growing up, Thanksgiving was this highly anticipated, joyful time of year. I looked forward to it.

A beautiful and meaningful, communal experience full of family and colors, sights and sounds, served alongside a somewhat ordinary menu, made exotic by the infrequency of its pairings. I loved it. There truly is no collection of tastes exactly like that.

Extra gravy, please.

At the same time, if you've had one Thanksgiving dinner, you've had them all. And yet, to go without a Thanksgiving meal, is to very nearly go without Thanksgiving. I did that, too.

For many years, even before I became homeless, I stopped participating. I lost my tether to that sacred ceremony of connection and gratitude.

For me, homelessness was this slow burn of disconnection and dissociation that happened long before I slept outside.

It was a process of unbecoming. And many things were lost. Hot, home-cooked meals were one of the first things to go.

I literally went years without home-cooked food. And more than that, all that goes along with and is associated with food prepared by one human being for the sustenance and wellness of another. That ineffable something that is inextricably tied to a home-cooked meal; the very essence of Thanksgiving itself. Connection, community, the ritual of making food with your hands and the holy act of giving and acknowledging thanks.

My first Thanksgiving meal after coming out of homelessness was at Union Station's Dinner in the Park. I was there with my beautiful mother, whom I lost to covid at the beginning of the pandemic. But we won't trouble with that right now.

This was 17 years before that awful mess and we still had many more holidays to experience together. It was 2003; we had just reconnected and this was our first Thanksgiving together in a long time. Make no mistake, we were there to eat, but more than that, we were there to volunteer.

There was a deep and often spoken acknowledgement of the role that Union Station Homeless Services played in helping me regain my place in the world and the healing that had happened as a result.

Not only for me, but for my mother as well. For our relationship. Dinner in the Park could not have been a better place to celebrate that. There was a quiet and symbolic beauty in my mother and I reconnecting at Dinner in the Park for our Thanksgiving meal. It spoke to the healing that had happened.

That we were doing it with hundreds of other people who were in various stages of their own healing journey, is something not easily put into words. There is a reverence to it all. And of course, food; an amazing feast of connection, community and giving thanks.

This year, we're facing a significant shortage and we really need hundreds more food donations to make sure that no one goes hungry.

These items are crucial for us to provide a warm and comforting meal to those who might otherwise go without on Thanksgiving Day.

There are several ways to participate and give. Among our biggest needs are the essential ingredients that make a Thanksgiving meal truly special. At the top of the list are:

You can also volunteer to serve. And best yet, just come to eat and connect.

I hope that you consider joining us this Thanksgiving. We'd love to see you there. We are grateful and thankful to you, our community. Thank you for always making a difference.

How to Help:

To help us provide a warm Thanksgiving meal, drop off food donations in-person, or donate online through our Amazon Wishlist or website. The full list of food needs and links can be found at ushs.org/dinner-in-the-park .

In-Person Donations can be given from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the USHS Administrative Building, 825 E Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104, or from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the USHS Adult Center, 412 S Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105

Shawn Morrissey is vice president of Advocacy for Union Station Homeless Services. He too has experienced homelessness. Headquartered in Pasadena, Union Station works to provide permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives. His writes periodic columns for the Pasadena Star-News.