Hundreds of families gathered in Tustin on Thanksgiving Day for free meals as Operation Warm Wishes provided food and activities for the unhoused and families in need for the seventh year.
The annual tradition that began as a small gathering for a few people at Pepper Tree Park has grown to a feast for a few hundred.
Tyron Jackson, the founder and the president of Operation Warm Wishes, anyone gets a seat at the table for the event.
“You don’t know who’s homeless. You don’t know who’s struggling. We are all here together - unity,” Jackson said.
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Jackson, who himself was once homeless, founded Operation Warm Wishes 17 years ago to help the unhoused, veterans and struggling families.
“There was a time in my life when I was struggling as a youth, homeless for a couple of years, living in motels,” he recalled. “I felt I had no purpose. But once I realized that I do, I wanted to give that same hope to the world.”
As families share a meal, kids can enjoy activities and even get a chair cut.
“We eat. They give you some clothes and food for them,” Caesar Portillo, a father who attended the Thanksgiving event with his family, said.
Jackson said he’s also raised enough money to buy five hotel rooms for five families to stay overnight.
“I’m teaming up with the hotel right across the street. They give some rooms for them to have a shower and a warm bed,” Jackson explained. “You can’t eat all this good food and just go back to living under a tree. I want them to have the most.”
