TULSA, Okla. — The Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma is giving away 100,000 Thanksgiving meals to families across Green Country.
On Tuesday, workers handed out meal boxes at the Osage Casino.
Dolores Dee Cruz volunteers at the food bank. Cruz was born and raised in Guam, before moving to California, Washington, then Tulsa. She says volunteering runs in the family.
"Growing up in the community, on the island, that’s where it all started," Cruz said. "So both my grandparents on my father's and mother’s side are community servants."
Cruz says her grandmother was involved in girl scouts, brownie scouts, and was a seamstress in her village. She says it was her grandmother who inspired her to serve her community.
"I became an adult, and really embraced the name and what she represented, and I thought I could take part in that too.”
Cruz has volunteered with the food bank in Tulsa for five years. She says this organization is especially close to her heart.
“Growing up, I never thought we were poor," she said. "But we were raised through government assistance and so some of the government cheese, the milk.”
This holiday season she is one of many volunteers helping the food bank distribute one hundred thousand meals this Thanksgiving. Cruz says it’s the people she serves who keep her coming back year after year.
“When I feel like my luck is not there, it's the opportunity of giving back and seeing people smile, and where it's gonna go.”
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