For many, Spring Branch food pantry does the ‘heart good’

Dilan Dalal, 11, carries bags of food at the East Spring Branch Food Pantry Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, in Houston. The food pantry served at least 1,000 families a Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday morning. The pantry provided a turkey (or chicken), a large bag of produce, and bags of non-perishable food to hundreds of families in need. less Dilan Dalal, 11, carries bags of food at the East Spring Branch Food Pantry Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018, in Houston. The food pantry served at least 1,000 families a Thanksgiving meal on Tuesday morning. The pantry ... more Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close For many, Spring Branch food pantry does the ‘heart good’ 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

They wrapped around the side of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, waiting for the turkeys that will garnish their tables and fill the stomachs of their children and families on Thanksgiving.

Some were homeless. Some were down on their luck. Some were working multiple jobs. But on Tuesday, they were grateful.

“It does my heart good,” Spring Branch resident Marcie Jo Miller said while waiting for the food she’ll take home for the holidays. “It’s nice to know that there’s places like this.”

The East Spring Branch Food Pantry expected to provide Thanksgiving dinner to more than 1,200 families in west and northwest Houston on Monday and Tuesday, supplying them each with a feast of turkey or chicken, fresh produce and two bags of dried goods.

Director Mary White said the pantry spent an estimated $16,000 for a total of 800 turkeys, 400 chickens and the produce. Families from local churches and organizations donated the dried goods, which were crammed in a sea of blue and purple bags that filled a church gym to half-court.

The food pantry served 377 families on Monday, all recommended by Spring Branch Independent School District schools, and volunteers expected to give away the rest of the goods by Tuesday afternoon. That sort of giving is a pleasure for many of the volunteers, White said.

“It feeds us,” White said. “You come to the pantry, you can be tired or whatever, and you leave feeling so good about life and people.”

Volunteer Francine Fleming echoed the sentiment, saying she’s helped out with the pantry’s Thanksgiving services for the past 15 years.

“It makes you feel really good that you’re able to share with them in their Thanksgiving, in a way,” Fleming said.

Starting at 7 on Tuesday morning, dozens of people lined up around the church, which shares a parking lot with the food pantry. After checking in, those in line had the option to get a flu shot before bringing their cars through a drive-thru line to pick up the goods for their meals. The only requirement for receiving the food was to live in one of six designated ZIP codes in the Houston area.

While waiting in line, Lisa Jo Guggenheim wrapped herself in a lime green blanket, smiling as she talked about what the pantry has meant to her for the past 10 years.

“The people here are always so respectful, and they treat you with dignity,” Guggenheim said. “They just help so many children. I like to see the kids getting what they need.”

Anthony Collier, a Spring Branch-area resident who was at the back of the line with his wife, said the wait was nothing compared to the services he was about to receive.

“This is what Thanksgiving is supposed to be about, being thankful for all that you have,” Collier said.

The food pantry’s Thanksgiving operations started about 30 years ago,on a much smaller scale, White said. It’s grown rapidly, she said, with 1,007 families served last year and 1,200 families served this year. At least 100 volunteers helped out on both Monday and Tuesday.

The pantry is regularly open four days a week, but Thanksgiving represents the true purpose and culmination of the organization’s work, White said.

“In my life, being thankful is basic to living, because you have to be grateful for the goodness that people give you, because you didn’t earn any of this,” she said. “Life is a gift, everything is a gift.”

G.L. Gonzales, who will be celebrating Thanksgiving with his wife and his niece, said he’s come down on harder times but is choosing to focus on the happiness in his own life.

“I look at the positive side - this is awesome, I really need it, and it’ll make mine and my wife’s and my niece’s holiday a little bit nicer,” Gonzales said. “It is a time to be thankful. You wake up in the morning and you’re alive.”

samantha.ketterer@chron.com

Twitter.com/sam_kett