A full home deserves a full meal

Margarita Ruiz has given all of herself to take care of her family, but it’s not always enough to cover extra expenses, like big family events such as Thanksgiving. 

At first, she was resigned — even thankful — just to bring her family to a charity dining room for the holiday. But this Thanksgiving, a special holiday food box from St. Vincent de Paul ensures that Margarita can share in the Thanksgiving tradition with her family in the comfort of their home.

Every morning, an hour before the rest of her family, Margarita gets up to just have some quiet time to herself. She does this because she currently has 11 family members living in her home, including herself and her husband and several of their children and grandchildren. Taking time for prayer, meditation, and her morning coffee helps keep her grounded.

Margarita didn’t always imagine her house this full. But when two of her children’s drug addictions came to light, she did what she could to seek help for her children but knew that her grandchildren could not stay with their parents. So, Margarita brought them into her home. 

“When they weren’t here, I didn’t know if they were eating,” she said. “The best thing about having them here is I know that they’re safe.”

Now, each morning is a wonderful cacophony of a full home. Margarita describes it as an assembly line, helping her four granddaughters do their hair, and making sure her grandson eats his breakfast, so they can all get to school on time.

Every year, Margarita looks forward to the holidays, especially Thanksgiving, as a time when life can slow down a little bit, they can focus on their family, and everyone can just catch their breath. 

Unfortunately, with the added financial difficulties of raising five extra children, the budget is extremely tight for Margarita’s family. In fact, they’re barely staying afloat, and it appeared that they would not be able to afford a special dinner at all, not to mention an expensive turkey along with all the accouterments of a traditional Thanksgiving. 

“We didn’t know what Thanksgiving was going to look like to be honest,” Margarita said. “There literally have been days when we've had nothing [to eat], really nothing.” 

Her plan was to go to SVdP’s Family Dining Room on the holiday, where her family could receive a meal with turkey, stuffing, and more. But it wasn’t going to be the same as being home…

That’s when she got in touch with SVdP. 

A year and a half before, she had formed a relationship with her local SVdP Vincentian volunteers in her neighborhood when she needed help with bill assistance. SVdP offers this type of financial assistance and more in addition to food boxes through the more than 80 community pantries it operates out of local Catholic churches.

Margarita stayed in contact after that and knew that SVdP would answer the call if she reached out for help.

It was Elizabeth Rios who answered that call. She’s one of SVdP’s Vincentian volunteers based out of St. Matthew's Catholic Church and formed a close bond with Margarita.

“I love Margarita’s compassion to keep going,” Elizabeth said. “She’s always so cheerful and positive, and has so much faith.”

Elizabeth told Margarita that they had just what she needed: A special holiday food box, complete with a Thanksgiving turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and more. And it had her name on it. 

Elizabeth and fellow Vincentian volunteer, Anne Powers, delivered the special food box to Margarita’s house three days before Thanksgiving — just in time for the holiday.

Margarita’s husband loves to cook, and she shared that they had recently found a used turkey fryer for $10 at a yard sale, so that’s how they’re going to roast this year’s main course. 

“Now, Thanksgiving looks awesome! Awesome!” Margarita said. “There’s everything that I need to make a full meal. SVdP’s volunteers are always blessings. I’m so grateful.”

Elizabeth said that giving these food boxes is an opportunity for her and other volunteers to connect with their community and that giving the holiday food boxes this time of year is a way that they bring hope into vulnerable households.

“The holidays are so important, because for some people it’s the only time they get to spend with family and get everyone together in one place,” she said. “We see so much appreciation. It means so much when we knock and someone answers the door with a big smile. We know they’re happy to see us.”