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The "Table of Friends" event is a
Thanksgiving celebration for Boston's homeless
population. "Friends of Boston's Homeless"
works in cooperation with the city of Boston.
And every year the TD Garden also wants to
be a part of making this a special day for
people that don't have a lot of special days
in their lives. So they host this beautiful
Thanksgiving dinner.
We have 1,000 pounds of potatoes,
500 pounds of vegetables, we have
800 pounds of turkey, and 2,000 slices
of pie. Everybody volunteers their time for
the event. It's what you need to do.
Everybody was here early this morning
making sure everything is ready so that when
the busloads show up, everything is hot and
everything is ready.
This is our 16th year host "Table of Friends",
it's our way to reach out to the community,
and the homeless community in particular.
And we have this year about 800 guests
coming into our home and celebrating the
holiday with us, a little bit early, but
hopefully having a great meal with us.
I think one thing that's important for us
to remember during this time of Thanks
when a lot of us have a roof over our heads
there are a lot of people who literally don't
have a roof over their heads. Whether it's
from the torandoes in Joplin, and Mississippi,
and Alabama and Georgia. Whether its from
the floods in North Dakato and up and down
the Mississippi from people who lost everything
they had in Hurricane Irene. And it's one thing
for us in FEMA that we have to remember is
the survivor in everything we do and today
serving dinner to people who don't have a lot
is just a way for us to remember that.
Well, I've been here for 16 years doing it
every year and I've been very fortunate,
you know I played hockey in the old building
and this building for a number of years and
the opportunity to really give back to the community
and help some people and make their lives
feel good for a couple of days and that's great.
It's uplifting, it's really taking in the atmosphere
and it's a festive affair, and I think a lot of people
are very happy being here. They aren't bringing
their complaints, they're bringing their enjoyment.
Our vision of success is two things and that is
we can bring some attention to the plight of
the homeless, and the fact that there is a
distinct need, probably never more than there
is this year. In addition it is bringing these folks
into the TD Garden that might not otherwise have
the opportunity to be our guests and just enjoy a
really nice warm meal.