Published: November 26, 2009 11:19 pm         

Lighthouse Mission beams holiday cheer

TERRE HAUTE — Hot, steaming trays of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, green beans and cool pumpkin pie were served up Thanksgiving Day to about 100 people at Terre Haute’s Light House Mission.

“We’ve got it all, buddy,” said Bill Wilson, who was preparing the meal in the mission’s kitchen earlier in the evening.

The Light House Mission, which houses and feeds some of Terre Haute’s neediest people, served its main Thanksgiving meal at around 5 p.m. Thursday. Just before the meal was served, more than 20 volunteers from the Wabash Valley arrived to help out.

“It kind of bonds us together,” said Chad Bond of Vincennes, who was volunteering at the mission with his family, including his 15-year-old daughter, Kierra Bond.

“All my life I’ve wanted to help people,” said Kierra, a freshman at West Vigo High School. “It makes me feel great about myself,” she said. “I don’t want anything in return.”

“Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!” shouted a mission resident after all of the hot trays of food were served by the volunteers.

“This is a great place to be,” Wilson said of the mission at 1450 Wabash Ave. “It’s done a lot for me.”

The Light House Mission currently houses about 70 residents, including two families and two young children, Thompson said. The mission also provides housing and food for women and single moms at the Conner’s Center in North Terre Haute.

The Light House Mission also recently provided about 1,500 Thanksgiving baskets to people in the Wabash Valley, Thompson said.

Many of the Thanksgiving volunteers at the mission brought their children.

“We don’t have a lot, but coming here, they realize what we actually have,” said one volunteer who did not want to be named and who brought her twin boys, age 9, to help serve Thanksgiving meals.

“We’re Christian and that’s part of being Christian, serving others,” she said.

After the trays were served, a prayer was said and everyone dug into hot and hearty-looking Thanksgiving meals.

“I always get to eat on Thanksgiving and I wanted to help others,” said Keli Thompson, a seventh-grader at Sarah Scott Middle School. Keli brought her mom, Lisa Edwards, to the mission.

“This was her idea,” Edwards said, looking at her daughter. “I was really proud of her.”

The Light House Mission provided more than 160,000 meals to needy people in 2006, according to the mission’s Web site. It also provided more than 40,000 nights of lodging.

“We have a lot of people that help us,” Thompson said, looking at the busy volunteers filling trays and serving tables. “For a community this size, it’s great.”

For more information on the Light House Mission, visit the mission’s Web site at www.thlhm.org.



Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.