16th Annual North-end Feast

Local organizations donate food to feed the community on Thanksgiving

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - From 11 am until 2 pm on Thanksgiving Day, the Martin Luther King Jr. Neighborhood Center was filled with smiles, laughter, and of course, there was plenty of food to go around!

The weather was rainy but the north-end community's hearts were warmed with love and plates piled with food.

Volunteers served a buffet of traditional Thanksgiving trimmings including turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, and sweet potato pies.

Event chairman, Lydia Blackthunder, said, “It just gets the community together. It invites everybody to come and celebrate Thanksgiving.”

Many people shared the reasons why they chose to spend the holiday eating with their community.

Some unable to afford a Thanksgiving dinner at home.

Others simply enjoy the welcoming atmosphere at the community feast.

Volunteers traveled from near and far.

Andrew Bryant said, “I came in town today to see friends and family and I like to volunteer in different areas.”

The Monis family traveled all the way from Los Angeles in 8-hour traffic but didn't allow the traffic jam to deter them from giving back.

Cyril Monis said, "This is one of the good things we can do for our community and I would like to do that with my family.”

It's important to the North-end community to show the youth the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Andrea Iloff started volunteering at the MLK center with her parents and church when she was just nine or ten-years-old.

Now that she's 24-years-old, it's a family tradition she looks forward to.

"I just love everyone's hearts that help out every year. I feel like this is the essence of what Thanksgiving is, serving and being thankful," Iloff said.

All of the food was donated from local organizations including the NAACP, Church of the City, Yuma Crossing Rotary, Yuma Young Marines, Arizona @ Work, Carver School, the City of Yuma, Agua Viva, and the American Legion.