Cityteam Ministries seeks more turkey donations to meet goal

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - A massive undertaking in San Jose, where Cityteam Ministries is preparing to give away 5,000 Thanksgiving food boxes Tuesday at Avaya Stadium to families in need. It's 2,000 more families than last year and the organization is still short 600 turkeys.

The Nguyen family is living out of their car and inside that car are all their belongings. It's been their home for the last year and half, after both parents lost full-time jobs.

"It's very hard," said Hoang Nguyen, who is homeless. "Compared to other people, we have a car."

Their biggest hardship is finding a place to give 8-year-old Leticia a bath before school.

"We get a lot of baby wipes," said Leticia. "We make sure they are nice and clean and we go to some kind of bathroom and we wash ourselves like a mini bath."

Mom's part-time job at McDonald's helps pay for gas. For food, they come to Cityteam Ministries in San Jose every night. At dinner time, it's packed.

"It is shocking to see that hunger is growing rapidly," said Carol Patterson of Cityteam Ministries.

On Tuesday, Cityteam Ministries is expecting to give away Thanksgiving boxed meals to 5,000 families. This year, food bank donations are down and the need is up. They attribute that to Silicon Valley's rising rents and wage disparity.
               
"It's very hard for them to compete with someone that has a job in Silicon Valley in a high-tech firm," said Patterson.

Chef Reynolds Stewart is preparing turkeys for people who don't have an oven. He's expecting to feed 800 homeless people Thanksgiving Day. 

"Since the whole election has happened, it just resonated a lot that you need to step up now more than ever," said Volunteer Karen Calderon.

As for the Nguyen family, they're thankful they're together, even if it's not the most ideal conditions.

"I'm happy because there's a lot of things we can be thankful for like the food, our clothes, shoes, and the car especially," said Leticia.

Cityteam Ministries will be accepting donations of turkeys at Avaya Stadium, where they will be partnering with the San Jose Earthquakes Tuesday morning.