The Market Hours of Operation:  St. Teresa of Calcutta: CLOSED: 1/6/25, OPEN: 1/7/25, CLOSED: 1/8/25 – 01/17/25, resuming 1/21/2025. St. Juan Diego: CLOSED: 1/6/25 – 1/7/2025 OPEN: 1/8/25, CLOSED: 1/9/25 – 1/10/25, resuming 1/13/2025.

Home » Blog » Catholic Charities helping provide Thanksgiving meals to Omaha families in need

Catholic Charities helping provide Thanksgiving meals to Omaha families in need

11/25/24

Catholic Charities of Omaha is once again helping those in need fill their tables for Thanksgiving.
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Catholic Charities of Omaha is once again helping those in need fill their tables for Thanksgiving.

There’s a lot going on at the Saint Juan Diego Center near 31st and Q Street in South Omaha. A lot of people are lined up around the building, receiving some help.

“We will serve 300 turkeys and all the fixings to go with it,” said Dave Vankat, the Chief Community Engagement Officer at Catholic Charities of Omaha. “Produce baskets as well as the food for side dishes, breads, desserts, the whole Thanksgiving meal for each family that comes through.”

Vankat tells First Alert 6 that it takes a lot of people to load up the turkeys and the fixings.

It takes a lot of people to load up the turkeys and the fixings.

“We couldn’t do this without all of our volunteers,” said Vankat. “We’ve got about 30 volunteers that came today. We rely on them everyday of the week that we’re open to help provide that food, day in and day out, to families who need it.”

Will Rush is one of those volunteers working in the cold, windy weather. He says he enjoys helping out and giving back, because there was a time his family needed help, too.

“I was in that situation with my mother a long time ago, you know, 30-40 years ago,” Rush said. “My mom was a struggling mother, single, by herself with four boys, and we had to struggle for everything we had to get.”

Now, Rush is helping others hoping volunteering his time will make things a little easier for those who need some help.

“The thing is, knowing that we can help somebody else in trouble and in need, and put them in a situation that they can be better off than they were last time,” Rush said.

Meanwhile, Vankat says the 300 meals they hand out translates to about a thousand people who will be able to enjoy a nice spread on Thanksgiving Day. All the food they give away comes from individual and business donors, as well as different parishes in the Omaha metro.

“We are very grateful for the gifts that we’ve been given and we are glad that we’re able to share them with others,” Vankat said. “Not only individually, but collective as Catholic Charities and all the volunteers that help us.”

Story Courtesy of WOWT: https://www.wowt.com/2024/11/25/catholic-charities-helping-provide-thanksgiving-meals-omaha-families-need/

Tags:

Non-Discrimination Statement Catholic Charities Domestic Violence Services prohibits discrimination in all its programs, services, and activities. Services will not be denied to victims of sexual, domestic, or dating violence based on race, sex, gender identity, or gender expression, perceived or actual sexual orientation, age, color, religion, marital status, national origin, disability, socio-economic status, health status, HIV status, employment status, immigration status, or geographic location.

Skip to content