I love Thanksgiving and all it stands for. Being Thankful for life and all it’s blessings. Some of us have more to be Thankful for than others and it is always rewarding to reach out to those in a tough spot in life.

I volunteer with a charity called “Midwest Challenge”(MWC). It is a faith based organization working to turn men’s lives around from addiction and/or prison. MWC houses men who are homeless and coming out of treatment. They also house men in their last 3-8 months of incarceration. They teach them how to fill out a job application, interview for a job and help them gain employment so they don’t go back to the streets.

Yesterday was the Thanksgiving Party for the men of Midwest Challenge, over 50 of them. I cooked one of the turkeys for the party (if you know me you would understand that was not a small task). My husband carved it and we headed to the Party.

Great appetizers, great music and a message, wonderful food and wonderful volunteers. The best part was wishing the men a Happy Thanksgiving and serving them.

One gentleman I talked to was having a hard time as it was his first Thanksgiving away from his family in Chicago. I held his hand and prayed with him, prayed for his family and prayed that he would be reunited with his family soon.

These guys have very little because of bad decisions but they are trying to turn it around. We have all made bad decisions and shouldn’t judge others. We all need a hand, a smile, a prayer at times in our lives. I was so glad I could do that. As the song says “Reach out and touch….somebody’s  hand, make this world a better place, if you can”.