PORT ANGELES — More than 200 people ate a hot, hearty Thanksgiving feast Wednesday thanks to the Salvation Army and donations of food from the public.
The guests to the free feast chatted cheerfully while waiting in line at the Salvation Army dining room at 206 S. Peabody St. as it opened at noon.
The Salvation Army put out a call earlier this month for donations of turkey and ham and was flooded with food.
The traditional meal has always drawn an eclectic mix. This year, though, a new group emerged.
“There are a lot more younger people,” said LaDonna Sickert, 53, of Port Angeles.
Sickert, sitting with her son and the friends with whom she has enjoyed hot meals at the Salvation Army soup kitchen for more than a year, said the number of young adults — older teenagers and those in their early 20s — who depend on the soup kitchen is increasing.
Many of them have nowhere to go this year, even those who have family in the area, she said.
“Families don’t care anymore,” she said, shaking her head.
The people Sickert has met at Salvation Army meals have become her family, she said.
Rocky White, 35, of Port Angeles said more young people are struggling to put food on the table.
“We may have to go to Kansas to get work,” White said, nodding to his young companions.
White and Jesse Haynes, 19, of Port Angeles plan to look for work in the oil fields, they said.
Haynes said he worked as a logger in Forks until recently and has mostly been on his own since his mother died when he was 17.
“We are seeing some young people,” said Major Scott Ramsey, who leads the Salvation Army efforts in Port Angeles, adding that he has been at the Port Angeles Salvation Army only since July and didn’t know whether the number had increased.
Many of those who do show up are older teens, he said.
The Salvation Army also helps struggling families with gifts and meals for Christmas, and there are a lot of young families in that group, Ramsey said.
As of Wednesday, about 400 families had registered for the Christmas program, and appointments were being made for a few more families to apply.
Applications can be made by phoning 360-452-7679.
Angel Trees allow people to purchase gifts for children who might not otherwise get presents this year, and the Salvation Army bell-ringers are in place collecting funds that will get the organization’s programs through another year, Ramsey said.
“This makes us or breaks us,” he said.
The Salvation Army serves free meals Mondays through Fridays: breakfast from 8:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and lunch from noon to 1 p.m.
It also operates a food bank and has church services at 11 a.m. Sundays.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.