Carving up a Happy Thanksgiving

The corridors beneath the Pasadena Convention Center were buzzing on Monday morning, filled with the metallic percussion of carving knives and the low hum of walk-in refrigerators. Deep in the center’s basement kitchen, about a dozen volunteers lined up at a large work table, quietly reducing whole roasted turkeys into neat piles of white and dark meat.

The annual turkey carving effort — now in its 13th season — is led by Union Station Homeless Services, which this year began receiving and roasting more than 200 turkeys last Friday. The birds will continue to be carved through Wednesday, ultimately forming the centerpiece of thousands of Thanksgiving meals distributed across Pasadena and the greater San Gabriel Valley.

“This is my sixth year of doing this, and this is such an amazing opportunity for us to get together with Union Station and OVG Hospitality to give back to the community, especially a community that has given back so much to us,” Councilmember Tyron Hampton said, after working  a carving knife through a stubborn drumstick.

Mayor Victor Gordo, echoed the urgency of this year’s need, saying, “This is a special time of the year for all of us, and this is an important event for the community. We all know that this is a time when we give so much to each other, and especially this year in light of how so many families have been impacted by the fire and all the developments that have affected us from Washington DC. This is a year in which we really have to dig deep and find a way to help our friends and our neighbors and our families.”

Union Station CEO Katie Hill, who carved like a pro at her station next to Hampton, emphasized just how dramatically the need has grown. “The insecurity that people have been feeling this year is really unprecedented. Last week we distributed meal kits, and we were expecting to give away 500, and we ended up giving out 800. People were lined up around the block all day long. We are looking at serving about 8000 meals in total, which is really incredible, and we’re grateful for the partnerships we have that allows us to do this work.”

By mid-morning, trays stacked high with sliced turkey filled rolling carts headed toward cold storage. The remaining birds — dozens of them — will be carved over the next two days, ensuring that by Thanksgiving, thousands of meals will be ready for delivery.

There in the basement, the volunteers kept carving.

Union Station Homeless Services’ annual Thanksgiving “Dinner in the Park,” a 50+ year Pasadena tradition providing a free holiday meal with options to eat on site or take meals to go, is on Wednesday, Nov. 26, from 10 a.m. until about 3 p.m. at Union Station Homeless Services Adult Center, 412 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. All are welcome.