Parkside Hospital Gives Out Free Thanksgiving Dinner To Patients

Patients at Parkside Hospital will be given a free Thanksgiving meal this year to take home.

Parkside said since turkeys might cost double what they did last year, they wanted to help make it a little easier on their patients.

Sheila Johnson has been a patient at Parkside for years, and stops by each year for the free Thanksgiving dinner.

"I come here, I pick it up, I take it home, and then it's easy to prepare whatever we're going to fix from whatever they give us," said Johnson.

She said there were times where she couldn’t afford a Thanksgiving meal of her own and she appreciated Parkside stepping in to help.

"There was times I didn't have enough money to get food, and then I heard about the food pantry,” said Johnson. “They didn't make you feel bad for asking because some people like myself would have a lot of pride and didn't want to ask people for help, but I learned to ask for that help."

Patricia Erwood is a mental health therapist at Parkside and said this time of year, many people struggle with their mental health.

She said the turkey giveaway gives her clients one less thing to worry about.

"This is a time when we all get together with our families, and for some people it's a great time, and for other people it's a difficult time,” said Erwood. “We are here to support you either way. Lots of families during the holidays don't have the money to go out and buy a Thanksgiving dinner."

Johnson said having the workers at Parkside go above and beyond has made a big difference in her overall health.

“It helped me a lot, and I thank God for the people that work here,” Johnson said. “They didn't act just like workers, they act like family. And they care, and they call you, and they check up on you. And I really enjoyed that."

Outside of Thanksgiving, patients at Parkside can pick up something to eat at their food pantry all year long.