A couple of years ago while volunteering at the annual We Give Thanks dinner for the needy at Honda Center, Anaheim Family YMCA CEO Brent Finlay said he was struck by a request from a girl waiting in line for food.
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"I was on the mashed potato serving line and this little girl comes up to me -- maybe 6 or 7 years old -- with a white T-shirt, dirty shoes on backwards with no laces and I give her a scoop," Finlay said. "She said, `Hey, sir, can I have more? I haven't eaten in a while.' I had tears streaming down my face."
And when the annual Thanksgiving feast had to be canceled last year after a nearly four-decade tradition, Finlay said in January he got the idea to keep it going with the YMCA.
"That was my inspiration," Finlay said of the Oliver Twist moment. "When the event went down and was going away I took it as a bit of a personal mission to bring it back. And through the Y and my own personal fortitude we're going to make this happen and bring it back."
Finlay said the event, which was run by restaurateur Frank Garcia for 37 years, had run into financial issues, with major sponsors dropping out.
"Last year, without that funding, there was no way a group of organizers could carry it forward," Finlay said.
This year's event will be held nearby -- at the Grove of Anaheim -- and will be a pickup event for needy families in the area, Finlay said.
"I've been a volunteer myself" at the annual We Give Thanks Thanksgiving dinner, he said. "My wife and I -- when we heard it was not going to happen last year -- it was kind of a depressing moment."
But in January, "I made a decision. I pitched the idea of bringing it back under the auspices of the YMCA and my board said go make it happen."
Starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, families will drive through the Grove parking lot to pick up about 3,500 grab-and-go meals with a Disney toy.
"We hope to serve about 700 families," Finlay said.
The YMCA has a list of families it has assisted in the past, and they were alerted to the event, Finlay said.
Because the YMCA provides afterschool snacks and meals, the organization already has an industrial food provider and the experience to keep the event going, Finlay said.
"They get the meal cold and can reheat it," he said.
Garcia was "ecstatic the Y was taking it on," Finlay said.
"He said if there was one organization that could do it and have the best interests of the families it was the YMCA. We were thrilled to have him share those words with us."
The YMCA is teaming up with the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Angels, city of Anaheim, Disney, CalOptima, Kaiser, and United Way to make the event happen, Finlay said.
"We have 127 volunteers who are going to be there," he said. "As we say, if it's meant to happen, the Y can do it. This is what we do all over America. We provide hope and try to change the lives as many as we can."
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