'Have a Blessed Thanksgiving, Honey'

A dedicated crew of staff and volunteers assembled at the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter Tuesday, maximizing the painfully squeezed space inside where meals are regularly prepared and served, by turning it into turkey dinner HQ.

By Thanksgiving eve the shelter will have distributed close to 1,000 baskets of food, which includes a turkey, a gallon of milk, a dozen fresh eggs, vegetables, bread, dessert, trimmings and some supplemental grocery items.

Eileen Brady, a social worker/advocate at the soup kitchen on Chestnut Street, said  "normal operations" would resume Wednesday, with turkey distribution continuing on the side.

"We still need to see what tomorrow brings. A lot of people come on foot, so bad weather means not so many may make it," she said.

Among those volunteering Tuesday was Sister Mary Flatley, of Windham, who was handing out eggs by the dozen outside the building.

"How you doing today?" Flatley asked a young woman, wrapping her in a warm hug. "You OK? Here you go. Have a blessed Thanksgiving, Honey." The woman reached out for the eggs as Flatley gave her hand a quick squeeze before handing them off. 

"She's so kind," said the woman, of Flatley, as she made her way to the last stop, around the front of the soup kitchen, where a box of canned goods was waiting for her. "Everyone here is so kind."

>Click the video link to hear why Sister Mary Flatley is so happy to assist at NSK&S.<