By Sarah Nagem
snagem@salisburypost.com
As the general manager of a local fast-food restaurant, Tom Knudsen knew he had the resources to feed the less fortunate on Thanksgiving.
And he counted on the community for help.
A couple of months ago, Knudsen set out a donation jar on the counter at Captain D’s on Innes Street.
Since then, customers donated $317, Knudsen said. The restaurant pitched in another $283.
The result was a huge Thanksgiving feast ó turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, pie and more.
Captain D’s fed more than 320 people Thursday, and none of them had to pay a dime.
“You should take care of your community,” Knudsen said. “You should always give back.”
Last year, Captain D’s partnered with a local church to give homeless and struggling folks a Thanksgiving meal.
Knudsen wanted to continue the program this year, although the church didn’t participate.
Captain D’s was closed Thursday, but workers opened the doors from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. for a buffet-style dinner.
“They were lined up at 10 o’clock,” Knudsen said.
Sixty-two-year-old Glenda Roberts stopped by the restaurant for a bite to eat. She had heard about Captain D’s plan to provide dinner from someone at Rowan Helping Ministries. The Salisbury resident said she’s been struggling lately.
She lost her house a couple of years ago, she said, and her husband died last month after he got pneumonia.
When she’s lucky, she sleeps at her son’s house. But she often ends up sleeping in the old car she drives, she said.”When I had the money, I stayed in the cheapest hotel,” Roberts said. “But they went up so high.”
Roberts said she depends on the meager retirement benefits she receives. Her late husband was a welder.
In the past, Roberts said, she has worked as a nurse’s aide and a welder’s helper.
But working as a nurse’s aide is hard on her back, she said.
“It’s not so easy down here to find a job,” Roberts said.
Last month, she landed a temporary job at a local church that paid her $2 an hour to keep an eye on a pumpkin patch.
It wasn’t much, she knew.
“But it helps,” Roberts said. “You’ve got to get money to put gas in (the car.)”
Roberts said she used to park her car in the Wal-Mart parking lot, but she thinks it’s too dangerous during the Christmas season.
Sometimes she finds a spot to park off country roads, she said.
Roberts appreciated the meal Thursday. She didn’t spend the holiday with her family.
They have helped out in the past, Roberts said, but her children have families of their own now.
Despite the hard times, Roberts was optimistic.
“I’m going to find a way to pull out, because I’ve always found a way to pull out myself,” she said.
Nearly two dozen volunteers showed up at Captain D’s to serve dinner.
Eleven-year-old Matthew Overcash volunteered with his grandparents, Betsy and Steve.
Betsy said it’s good for children to learn early on the importance of volunteering.
“God has blessed us so much that we have to pass it on,” she said.
Captain D’s closes for Thanksgiving, but nine of Knudsen’s employees came to work anyway.
“No one was forced to come in,” he said. “Everybody did this on their own.”
Knudsen was pleased the food was nearly gone by the end of the three-hour serving period.
“Either we were going to have a whole lot of food left over, or we were going to have nothing left over,” he said. “I wanted to have nothing.”
It wasn’t just the homeless and down-on-their-luck folks who enjoyed the meal.
Elder Bruce, 72, is a regular customer at Captain D’s.
“I’m in here just about every week,” he said.
An employee told him about the festivities, so he brought his wife there before they headed out to see their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
This was the first year his wife didn’t cook at home, Bruce said. “It’s easier on her ó hard on me,” he said with a chuckle.