Just
a Thought: Raul Jimenez Dinner
By
Steve Walker
It
is that time again for the Raul Jimenez Dinner on Thanksgiving Day.
Now in its 36th year, the once a year event continues
to provide a hot turkey dinner with all the trimmings to senior citizens, homeless
and the less fortunate from all over the city.
Traditionally the dinner is served at the Henry B.
Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio. Besides seniors and the less
fortunate, airmen and soldiers stationed in San Antonio who are unable to go
home for the holiday are bussed from the numerous Air Force bases and Ft. Sam
Houston for the annual gathering. Busses also bring in seniors from the various
senior centers around town.
The mission of the dinner is to invite seniors and
others to dine at a “community dinner table”, celebrate the holiday with their
peers, and even enjoy live music and entertainment.
As one who has participated in the gathering in
various capacities over the years, I find it to be a rewarding experience. The
time spent at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thanksgiving Day with fellow
seniors, military members, homeless and the less fortunate is really hard to
put into words.
The Dinner currently serves over 25,000 senior and
needy citizens from Bexar County and the surrounding areas and has grown to be
one of the largest Thanksgiving benefits in the country.
Back in the 80s, I contributed my time to doing
numerous tasks. One year my brother Jeff and I went downtown days before the
dinner and spent nearly a full day shucking the turkeys. I remember we were
given plastic gloves and extremely sharp knives to skin what seemed like a
never ending stack of turkeys. I came away with a few minor cuts on my hands for
my efforts.
That particular year Thanksgiving happened to be my
mother’s birthday which is why we participated earlier in the week so we could
be home with her on that day.
Another year I bussed tables for the workers eating
area as well as the tables in the main makeshift dining room. That was really
rewarding as many of the seniors graciously thanked me for my efforts as I
roamed the hall for empty plates and such.
One year I served plates of food to the tables for those
waiting for a meal as a Balcones Heights Councilman along with other elected
officials and community VIPS.
In 2006, when I started the Walker Report photoblog, I
began covering the event for the blog and from that point on covered the dinner
in photos. Even as a Judge I continued to cover the event.
Currently over 4,000 volunteers work to make this annual
event possible. Volunteer committees assist with the coordination of
transportation, food preparation and service, beverages, decorations, event-day
volunteers, entertainment, security, and finally, clean-up.
Numerous community and corporate volunteers assist
with food preparation event week to include shucking those turkeys like I did
many years ago.
Area school districts are also an active part of the
dinner as they contribute student-made table decorations and hundreds of
students who volunteer to decorate the convention center. On Thanksgiving Day, the
volunteers gather to greet dinner guests, prepare and serve the meals, and
clean up.
The
City of San Antonio, a sponsor of 35 years, contributes the use of the
Convention Center exhibit halls and kitchen facilities needed to host the event.
Along with numerous sponsors, the dinner is a city-wide team effort to feed
those who otherwise wouldn’t have a meal for Thanksgiving.
To
those who volunteer and give of their time for those less fortunate, “Happy
Thanksgiving.”
As
Always, I write just a thought.
Steve
Walker is a Viet Nam Veteran, former Journalist and Justice of the Peace.
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