Over the decades, we’ve seen plenty wrong with America, mainly among our political elites. But when the chips are down, the people always come through to make us a better nation.
During the recent government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was slashed. Nearly 2 million Illinoisans lost that food aid until it was fully restored on Nov. 20.
During that loss, area food pantries and other nonprofits that dole out aid struggled to help needy families. Yet, individuals stepped up with donations of canned goods, foodstuffs and monetary assistance to keep the larders full.
Such altruism continues during this Thanksgiving week and beyond as people volunteer to fight hunger among their fellow citizens. Such work should warm the hearts of even our most curmudgeonly neighbors.
Such self-sacrifice is offered by “Big Ed” Nero, co-owner of Big Ed’s BBQ on Lakehurst Road in Waukegan’s Fountain Square entertainment zone. The restaurant will hold its 10th-annual free Thanksgiving dinner giveaway on Nov. 27.
“This is our way to say thank you to our community for supporting us for all these years,” states a flyer at the eatery. From noon to 4 p.m., Thanksgiving Day, the restaurant will offer dine-in T-bird dinners in addition to curbside pickup, with a limit of two dinners per car.
“If you are working, a first responder on duty, homeless or you’re just down on your luck and don’t want to be alone on Thanksgiving Day and in need of a hot meal, you can come to Big Ed’s,” the flyer says. The menu includes turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, gravy, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.
That sounds a lot tastier than my usual T-Bird haute cuisine, a Hungry-Man turkey dinner. If not familiar with Big Ed’s, the restaurant serves some of the best slow-smoked barbecue in Lake County. Don’t take my word for it, the restaurant has the competition kudos to back that claim.
Big Ed’s isn’t the only one giving back to the community.
Volunteers from Gurnee Community Church, at O’Plaine Road and Old Grand Avenue, will host their annual Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 27 for 130 “boots” from Naval Station Great Lakes, as well as members of the local community.
Churches and their members fill a good chunk of the nation’s volunteerism corps. Some 150 volunteers work to make the Gurnee event a success.
The day includes a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner and afternoon tea for the Navy recruits, many of whom are away from home for the first time. It also gives sailors the chance to call loved ones. On the morning of Thanksgiving Day, church volunteers also help out with Gurnee’s annual Jon Callaghan Memorial Turkey Trot to benefit the church’s youth mission trips.
Gurnee paper-shredding and electronics recycler, Paper Tiger, at Route 41 and Estes Street, is another of many companies that contribute to helping food-neglected neighbors. At its Shred Fest event last Saturday, the company asked customers to bring a can of food to support the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Paper Tiger is also expected to donate more than $5,500 this year to sustain food bank operations.
Perhaps it is inbred in Americans to aid their fellow citizens when they need help, especially during the holiday season. But it hasn’t been only Americans who have been recipients of our generosity.
Those of a certain age may recall when CARE packages were aimed at those living in a devastated Western Europe after the end of World War II and not treats for collegians. Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere began in 1946 as part of the Marshall Plan to send food and supplies to a starving Europe.
Indeed, following V-E Day, President Harry Truman sent former President Herbert Hoover on a fact-finding journey to Western Europe. “It is now 11:59 on the clock of starvation,” Hoover reported, finding that in France more than 50% of children in industrial areas of the country had rickets, and 70% to 80% suffered diminished growth due to malnutrition.
The Marshall Plan, named for George Marshall, a World War II general and later secretary of state, began in 1948 and transferred $13.3 billion in economic recovery programs to Western Europe to rebuild war-torn nations. Historians tell us some 18 countries received benefits, with the then-Soviet Union rejecting any U.S. aid for Eastern European nations under its totalitarian reign.
That being said, we continue to be a beacon for food and freedom for millions around the world, even if some of our leaders fail to recognize the need for a generous United States during this Thanksgiving week. Unlike many of us.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
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https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/24/charles-selle-column-thanksgiving/
