Thanksgiving is the super bowl for soup kitchens. Starting on the Friday before the holiday, the INN (Interfaith Nutrition Network) began handing out turkeys and bags of "trimmings" so that families had everything they needed to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal. By Wednesday, the last of 3,500 birds had been given out. This was an increase of over 1,000 from the year before.

On Thanksgiving Day, I got to the soup kitchen around 7:30 and there was already one man, huddled in the cold, sitting by the front door, waiting for us to open. By 9 o'clock, a small army of volunteers was busy preparing bread and butter, cutting desserts into individual servings, and setting the tables with table cloths and decorative placemats made by local school children.

Around 11:30 the turkeys were ready to eat, and after a brief prayer of thanksgiving, we began serving a room full of hungry folks. When we finished two hours later, more than 400 meals had been served in a room that usually accommodates around 200. For a while, people had to stand, waiting for a chair to open up as someone else finished their meal.

Later that day, Gail and I enjoyed our own Thanksgiving meal with my brother, his family, and some neighbors. Before we ate, I said the following prayer: "Lord, we thank You for the food we are about to share and for the company of family and friends. We know we are blessed to have this bountiful meal and that there are many others who are not as fortunate. May we always have compassion for the needs of others and may our compassion lead to our sharing our blessings with all who are in need."

If you've had some blessings in your life, please consider sharing your good fortune with those who haven't been as blessed. To help families in need, please make your check payable to The Interfaith Nutrition Network. Donations may be mailed to: Dave Golbert, 7 Lee Court West, Great Neck, NY 11024.

As the sages asked, "If not now, when?