Brighton Center sets Thanksgiving tables for 250 needy families

NEWPORT, Ky. - The Brighton Center is helping Thanksgiving dinner taste a little more delicious for hundreds of Northern Kentucky families.

The Brighton Center organized a Sunday afternoon distribution of 250 Thanksgiving dinners for many of its client families. The organization received help from groups like Defender Direct and the Crossroads Community Church, which both provided volunteers for the distribution.

"Families are going through every resource that they have," Brighton Center Family Coordinator Talia Frye said. "They've tapped out their 401Ks. They've maybe lost an asset. Their families are no longer able to help them in the ways that they might have in years prior and so, unfortunately, they have to turn to us for the first time for services."

Families started lining up at around 1 p.m. in a parking lot across from the Brighton Center in Newport to retrieve their holiday feast, which includes a frozen turkey and all the trimmings.

Recipients say the donations will change their Thanksgiving holidays for the better.

"It's going to mean a lot," Sherry Guy said. "Because we didn't have nothing at all. Last year, we had a TV dinner. This year, we'll have a turkey instead and it means a lot."

Brighton Center officials say 63 percent of this year's Thanksgiving dinner recipients are first time recipients and have never before requested help from them.