A Thanksgiving Dinner at St. John's Church

The Milpitas Knights of Columbus of St. John's Church had a hot meal ready on Thanksgiving for those in need. 

Walk-ins received a sit-down dinner and pumpkin pie. Youth volunteers from a confirmation class at St. John's served the guests.

The Knights didn't have the dinner last year because of a shortage of members, but they decided to do it this year. This time there were too many volunteers and not enough walk-ins.

"I had people over here (too early) at 4:30 a.m.," said Deputy Grand Knight Ruben Esguerra. "That's dedication for you." 

With the extra food available, "we sent out a lot of meals out," he said. "We delivered to people who didn't come in."

To pull off the event, volunteers postponed their own Thanksgiving dinners to Friday so they could stay through the afternoon.

"It's been a long day," said Grand Knight Ruben Esguerra. "We've been here since 6 a.m."

The group had its annual food giveaway on Wednesday. The grocery bags contained a chicken and six other food items, purchased by the Knights. The parishioners also donated additional food that was added to the bags.

Parishioner Bibit Rico's son, Aldren, helped prepare the grocery bags for distribution.

On Thursday, the two attended the morning service at St. John's and spent the rest of the day helping.

"Thanksgiving means being able to celebrate the service of the Lord and expanding that to the community," she said.

"Just inviting people to come and eat" together resembled the story of the pilgrims and Native Americans coming together for the first Thanksgiving, said Aldren Rico.

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