For Olive Garden restaurant manager Ashley Glaze, serving others in need on Thanksgiving hits home.
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“I was them sitting in the chairs just not too long ago,” she said.
Glaze said she and her husband fell on tough times years ago and became regulars at the soup kitchen. Now in her new role, she’s been dedicated to taking part in giving back to the place that she said gave so much to her.
She and a handful of other employees and their families served lasagna, bread sticks and salad to anyone who walked through the door.
“If I’m able to help provide … any of my time to come and fill up their bellies and their kids, I’d do it every day,” Glaze said. “If I can bring some joy and positivity to this community — what’s what I’m gonna do.”
Springfield Soup Kitchen president Fred Stegner said the kitchen served close to 300 people the night before Thanksgiving with a traditional dinner, but he’s said he’s always amazed by the selflessness shown by the Olive Garden volunteers on Thanksgiving Day.
The annual feast started six years ago when an employee brought one pan of lasagna into the soup kitchen, and the gesture has only grown since then.
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“The employees and their families are here,” he said. “And they’ve given up their Thanksgiving to come serve others.”
He said many of the people in attendance wouldn’t have had any kind of Thanksgiving if it weren’t for Olive Garden’s generosity.
“It’s just all about love. And we’ve got a lot of love here in Springfield,” he said.
One of those people was Pamela Roberts, who said she lives alone. She said to her, Thanksgiving is about togetherness, and that’s why she continues to come down to the soup kitchen on a regular basis.
“When I get around people, I really light up,” she said. “When I come down here, I feel like family.”
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