PORT ANGELES — After we’ve gathered together and gone home, after we’ve gobbled the last slice of turkey, there’ll still be cause for thanks today.
The Salvation Army will be here tomorrow.
The faith-based charity had fed a pre-Thanksgiving afternoon dinner to 282 people by 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and expected to serve all its 300 plates of apple pie by closing time two hours later.
None of those who talked about their circumstances provided their surnames.
Among those partaking in the feast was John from Edmonds, who had come to the North Olympic Peninsula to take a logging job and said he was making good money.
That was before he fell 60 feet from a tree, breaking his sternum and fracturing his femur and suffering heart disease.
“A lot of people say, ‘Get a job.’ A lot of people just treat you like you’re scum.”
But at the Salvation Army soup kitchen at 123 S. Peabody St., John said, “I’ve got God, and He’s got me.”
Meanwhile, Jeff said he’d lived in Clallam County 9½ years before relocating recently to Bakersfield, Calif.
He returned to Port Angeles this week to clear out a storage space — and make the round of Thanksgiving dinners as he’s done for almost 20 years.
“Big cities don’t put these kinds of spreads on,” he said, indicating he’d go to a church-sponsored dinner Wednesday night and another today.
It wasn’t just a free meal, he said; the fellowship inside the kitchen attracted him and his girlfriend.
“I know at least half the people in here,” he said.
Nearby, having finished her meal, Denyse applied face powder and lipstick in preparation to ring a bell and tend a Salvation Army kettle at Swain’s.
“They help me here a lot, a lot,” she said. “It’s awesome.”
Denyse quoted Salvation Army Majors Sabrina and John Tumey, who manage the Port Angeles facility.
“They say, ‘You have a good day for me.’ They understand where you’ve been and where you’re at, and they don’t judge you. They give you an alternative to suffering.”
As Denyse spoke, Melinda bustled around the dining hall. A daily volunteer for the Salvation Army, she was thoroughly enjoying the event.
“It’s an amazing time,” she said. “So many people from so many walks of life.
“There could be 14 involved in making just one apple pie between the donating of the apples, bringing them in, the people who wash them, the people who peel them, the people who cook them, the people who make the pie crust . . .”
Asked what she thought of the Salvation Army, Melinda answered, “Boots on the ground, literally and physically.
“When I got here in 2007, Port Angeles was a pretty dark place. I hated that people were left in such a dark place alone.
“When you see someone who is just staring down, when they’re just lost and sad and they don’t look you in the eye, they’re assumed to be dangerous. But they’re the most dangerous to themselves.
“And that’s the part that I hate, that fear is making people scared of each other and creating this huge void.”
The Salvation Army fights that darkness and fills at least some of that void, Melinda said.
“There’s a community of people here who are lovely,” she said.
“The Salvation Army has given me a place to call home.
“I know it’s a God thing because it’s just so amazing.”
And Melinda will be back at the Salvation Army hall tomorrow.
“It blesses people to bless,” she said with a smile, “and that blessing just continues to grow.”
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
