D.C. nonprofit puts the happy in Thanksgiving by feeding ill area residents

Karen Washington could only call the delivery a blessing. Two volunteers with the nonprofit organization Food & Friends had knocked on the doors of her Capitol Heights home, carrying a bag packed with a full Thanksgiving dinner that could feed a half-dozen.

Washington thanked them. She hugged them. Come in, come in! she invited.

In the kitchen, Washingtons sons were cutting up peppers and chopping celery. They began unpacking the feast bestowed upon them: roasted turkey, sweet potatoes, cornbread stuffing, green beans, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce.

Washington, 49, could not eat any of it. But it didnt matter.

Before my illness, my Thanksgiving was commercialized and fast, Washington said. But I feel like Im blessed.Thank you.

Tenminutes before, they were all strangers. Now, Petie Bonbrest and her longtime boyfriend, Bill Enselman, were in the living room of a woman giving them an unexpected display of gratitude. They, too, began to wipe away tears.

Bonbrest said: We are blessed to have met you today.

The meaning of Thanksgiving dinner can seem a little obscured at first, when its quickly prepared and packaged by an assembly line of volunteers wearing red hairnets. Every day, the organization based near the Fort Totten Metro station delivers free nutritious, curated meals for those facing life-threatening illnesses. Thanksgiving is Food & Friends biggest delivery day.

For the holiday, the chef abandons the usual nutrition-conscience meal and pieces together a hearty traditional menu. Volunteers over the course of the week spice nearly 10,000pounds of turkey, slice 780pounds of collard greens and dice 975pounds of glazed sweet potatoes.

About 800deliveries were made around the region Thursday, twice as many as the usual haul. The centerpiece is the 12-pound turkey.

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D.C. nonprofit puts the happy in Thanksgiving by feeding ill area residents