Barb O'Neill's Family and Friends 47th Annual Thanksgiving Meal

Above: Rodney O’Neill greets friends as he carries on his mother’s legacy with Barb O'Neill's Family and Friends Thanksgiving event. Barb O’Neill started the meal for family and close friends out of her home in 1969. Eventually, it became a community event.

By Janine Gates

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Rodney O’Neill, 50, suffered a stroke on January 31, but says nothing could keep him and a whole lot of friends from pulling off the 47^th annual Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends Thanksgiving community meal. The event was held at First United Methodist Church on Wednesday.

“Without the community support and help of everybody, we would be sunk,” he said, crediting support from local nonprofits, the Washington Federation of State Employees Local 443 union, NW Realty and the Van Dorm family, and many more.

About his stroke that affected his right side, O’Neill said, “It happened so quickly -there were no warning signs.” O’Neill has worked hard to recover, and has progressed from using a wheelchair to walking with some difficulty. 

“It slowed me down but it definitely didn’t stop me. I have a purpose. I have been given the right tools to do what I do with knowledge, faith, and a genuine passion to want to help people….” he said, as well wishers and friends constantly caught his attention.

O’Neill estimated that about 150 volunteers turned out to assist with the meal, including a lot of high school students from Olympia High School and Timberline High School, who also provided musical entertainment.

Logistically, volunteers started planning on Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.

“Being prepared and working all day yesterday gave us an advantage,” he said. O’Neill was prepared to serve about 1,500 meals, but by 4:30 p.m., only about 550 meals were served. Each meal was deeply appreciated.

An evening dinner rush before 5:00 p.m. is typical, and volunteers were ready. Robert Johns, who has assisted with the Thanksgiving dinner for four years, wore a festive turkey hat as he stood behind the serving line, ready to replace empty serving food containers with hot, full ones. 

The total number of those served was down, perhaps due to the fact that the event was changed this year from United Churches in downtown Olympia to First United Methodist Church on Legion Way, in Olympia’s eastside neighborhood. 

The new location provides more room for folks to eat, sit, enjoy musical entertainment on a stage, and make new friends, or see old friends. O’Neill is confident people will find and get used to coming to the new location.

“It’s just amazing….Look, there’s no stress on their faces. They are happy to be here,” O'Neill said of the crowd. 

Not only were folks able to eat a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings, a resource room was set up to provide information about local social services, and a clothing room provided clothes, blankets, coats, and paper bags filled with soups and soap. The YMCA provided free shower passes to those in need. 

Providing enough clothes and warm coats for men is a perpetual need and donations are accepted year round.

Describing how he had worked on the meals by his mother’s side since he was little, O'Neill said that taking over the event was not as easy as he first thought.

“In the last three years of her life, it was like I was in ‘Training Day.’ It was always so intense with everything she was trying to tell me, and I was like, ‘OK, Mom, I got it, I got it,’ but the whole time, I didn’t have it.”

But by the looks of how shifts of volunteers were kept busy and smoothly rotated between stations, and plentiful, hot food, drinks and desserts were served with smiles, with friendly conversation heard throughout the church’s Great Hall, it would seem Rodney O’Neill has got it.

O’Neill’s Family and Friends will have a Christmas meal on Saturday, December 17, from 12 – 6:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, and provide toys and gift baskets.

For more photos and stories about Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends, go to https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search engine.

To donate food, gifts, gently used clothing, or supplies such as sleeping bags or coats, or to find out how you can get involved in this event or other community events sponsored by Barb O'Neill's Family and Friends, contact Rodney O'Neill at (360) 485-9931 or barbssoul@yahoo.com.

Thanksgiving Is Served with Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends

By Janine Gates

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends succeeded in pulling off their 46^th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner on Wednesday at United Churches of Olympia for those who wished for a warm environment, good food, and great company. 

An estimated 26 to 30 turkeys with all the trimmings were served by 5:00 p.m. Desserts, bread items, children’s books, and clothing of all types were available as well. Some folks stayed all afternoon.

Kevin Harris, just one of many essential volunteers, has played a role with the traditional community meal for 26 years. As the dining room coordinator, he estimated that they served fewer meals than usual this year, but to get an accurate count, they will do a full count of plates served. Those who asked received additional, full Thanksgiving meals to go, and there were many requests.

This reporter was a grateful recipient of generous portions of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, garlic bread, cranberry sauce, pickles and refreshments.  I passed on the black olives, but they were also offered. 

This year, I handed out pre-wrapped egg salad sandwiches and later did a stint stationed on the assembly line, serving up the creamy mashed potatoes. 

The community-wide invitation to share in the meal is available to anyone, because friendly companionship is just as important as food. I met several fascinating members of our local community. People chatted, a band played jazzy tunes and volunteers like Gracie Anderson, 16, were back to share in the camaraderie.

The Olympia High School student came late in the afternoon because there was a full day of school, and as a result, fewer teenagers were present to volunteer. She has had a busy year since I last saw her last Thanksgiving.

In Spring of last year, she, along with her mother and aunt who are both school mental health counselors in Chehalis, decided to do something for that community and the Chehalis School District.

As if being a fulltime student wasn’t enough, Anderson started an organization, Food for our Future, based on the successful model of Thurston County’s Homeless Backpacks. She is now in the process of applying for her organization’s non-profit status.

Starting with two elementary schools, Food for our Future is now in three Lewis County schools, providing 75 bags of food each week for students who might otherwise go hungry over the weekend when school is not in session. Bags of food are distributed on Fridays to students determined to be homeless through criteria based on the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act.

The Act determines that children are deemed homeless if they are living on the streets, in a shelter, or couch-surfing. Families are able to opt-out of Anderson’s program if they so choose.

Anderson recently paired with Hannah Hart who sponsors “Have a Hart Day,” an international initiative to “organize and mobilize Hartosexuals & friendly humans to spread service and reckless optimism all over the world.” (Go to www.youtube.com/harto and you might get hooked watching Hart's Newlyfriend Game with Daniel Radcliffe).  

Anderson served as the city captain of Chehalis for three “Have a Hart Day,” events and received 30 volunteers to bag food. Usually, Anderson said, they have about 10 volunteers to bag food.

“Now we have enough bagged food for four weeks!” she said.

Anderson’s enthusiasm to help others is contagious. She shared many stories of individuals she has met who inspire her to continue her work to help others.

“I want everyone to have the same opportunities that I have had….For me, it’s about doing my best and doing everything I can because I’ve been so incredibly lucky,” said Anderson.

Barb O'Neill's Family and Friends keeps growing.

To contact Food for our Future, contact Gracie Anderson at Gracie.Anderson.ffof@gmail.com.

Homeless Backpacks is a local non-profit 501c3 corporation committed to ending homelessness by giving teens the help they need so they can focus on school, go on to graduate and become contributing citizens.

They provide food for the weekend to homeless teens in Thurston, Mason and Grays Harbor Counties. Begun in 2004, the group serves between 300-400 students per week in Thurston County. For more information, go to www.homelessbackpacks.org.

To read more about Gracie Anderson, or Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends Thanksgiving Dinner, go to Little Hollywood at www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search button.

Great Food, Great Company at Barb O’Neill’s Thanksgiving Dinner

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

For 45 years, the Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends Thanksgiving Dinner has served the community, and did so again today from noon to 5 p.m. at The United Churches in downtown Olympia. Just before 5:00 p.m., it was estimated that 1,500 meals had been served.

Volunteers with community resource organizations such as GRuB, Safeplace, the Thurston/Mason chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and Quixote Village handed out potentially life-saving literature and information.

Kitchen volunteers monitored the food line often and quickly exchanged empty bowls, pans and platters with full ones. Everyone had their plates full of hot turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, deviled eggs, and stuffing. Some came back more than once.

One volunteer who served food was Gracie Anderson, 15, a student at Olympia High School. She’s been serving meals at the Thanksgiving gathering for five years, and sees a future for herself in social work. She is involved in several clubs at school, including the National Honor Society and debate. She says she loves to talk about local issues.

With her mom and little sister serving desserts nearby, Anderson served garlic bread and extra butter and I served celery sticks and pickles. Although I cheerfully offered both options equally, the pickles were popular and we ran out them by mid-afternoon.

The articulate teenager exuded enthusiasm and told me a few stories. I asked why she keeps coming back to help serve.

“It’s a humbling experience to be able to help people who can’t always help themselves,” she said.

She says she breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the same people back year after year because at least she knows they are O.K. She wonders if the children she sees are homeless.

Anderson says the nice thing about the Thanksgiving Dinner is that anyone can come, so there’s no stigma to coming and being served a good meal. She says that although she feels comfortable around people in need, it also helps for her to visualize that within everyone, there’s a child.

“Sometimes it helps to see the child instead of the adult….and everyone has a story….One year, about two years ago, I got into a heart-to-heart conversation with a woman who said she had cancer and couldn’t afford treatment. I could tell she was weak. I’ve never seen her again…She was amazing,” said Anderson, her voice trailing off in thought.

Anderson said she read a book last year, “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction,” by Dr. Gabor Mate, and recommended it to anyone who wants to learn more about people and their addictions. She said her mom read it too.

“It was life changing, and gave me a new perspective on what I do here,” she said.

Asked if she’s seen a shift in demographics of those who come to be served, she said she thinks she sees more older children and not as many little kids. “But maybe it’s because I’m more involved and mature and see things with a new perspective.”

Gracie Anderson has also served food for the Barb O’Neill’s Family and Friends gathering at Christmas time and Easter.

“I love Christmas – I helped kids pick out free presents for their parents, and I made about 450 friendship bracelets and gave them all out,” she said. Anderson’s little sister came over and pulled a few of the friendship bracelets out of her pocket. Anderson tied one on my wrist.

“It’s fun when people come back and I see them still wearing their bracelet,” she said.

We were relieved of our posts about 4:00 p.m., and a fresh group of volunteers took over our duties, while a steady stream of visitors still came in to receive food.

Everyone was being served. Some visitors had been there for hours to enjoy the food, company, the live music, coffee, pop, and water, and a warm place to hang out. I enjoyed a meal and several meaningful conversations.

One guy with a great sense of humor told me his life story but warned me that he probably won’t remember our conversation if we see each other again due to a brain injury. A former long haul truck driver, he suffered a brain hemorrhage 13 years ago while at his truck stop on Mottman Road. His license was taken away and he has not worked since.

“After a while, I told my wife I was bored. She said I wasn’t allowed to say I was bored. So I go to the doctor and he tells me I’m depressed! Well, let me tell you, I’m bored with being depressed!” he laughed. He is very proud of his 27 year old daughter who is a dancer.

Saying goodbye, having made a few new friends, Rodney O’Neill greeted people coming and going at the door. I got a big hug. Pointing Gracie out to him, I told him how wonderful she is.

“That’s what inspires me so much, is seeing the same faces every year,” he said with a smile.

Serving celery sounds simple, but it was harder than it looks, and behind that is a lot of hard work. O’Neill and a solid team of volunteers, many of them teenagers, including a young man named Ian, had been there preparing and cooking food since 8:00 a.m.

About 4:15 p.m., Rich Smith, kitchen manager, gave O’Neill a quick update on the food situation. One more uncooked turkey remained. It was decided to not cook it. Over 1500 meals had been served today.

“That’s 25 dozen deviled eggs, 140 pounds of mashed potatoes – all hand peeled and hand mashed – 200 pounds of stuffing, and 30 smoked turkeys. Safeway donates all the desserts and breads,” Smith laughed, and headed back into the kitchen.