A decade long tradition continued Thursday as people gathered at The Community Place in Rochester for a Thanksgiving meal.
Juliet Blakelavan, an associate pastor at Miracle Valley Deliverance Church, started serving free Thanksgiving meals to people in need ten years ago as a way to give back. Each Thanksgiving she gathers her friends, family and volunteers from area churches to serve a home cooked meal to people who might not have one otherwise.
“We love doing it. Me and my husband give up our thanksgiving every single year to be with the community to have dinner with them,” she said.
Each of the meals were homemade by chefs at Miracle Valley Deliverance Church. For Blakelavan and the volunteers, the meals offer more than turkey and casseroles.
“I know what it is like to be homeless. I was homeless and I just want to make somebody's day special, make somebody smile and feel like they would feel if they had a home so everything is homemade, made with love,” Blakelavan said.
Juliet’s daughter, Joy Davidson, traveled from Georgia to be part of the Thanksgiving Day tradition.
“We want to make sure that everybody eats,“ Davidson said.
Jahnai Joseph, Juliet’s niece, has been volunteering for Thanksgiving since she was a child.
“I like seeing people's faces because I know it makes them happy, we give them baskets, it feels good to know someone is being taken care of,” she said.
They planned to hand out more than 500 meals, even delivering some to people who couldn’t make it out on their own.
Because of COVID-19, the meals were offered to go. Blakelavan and her crew of volunteers look forward to future Thanksgivings where they can once again invite people to stay all day.