Vieira, now 55 and unable to work due to disability, lost his apartment three months ago due to rising rent prices.

He has been living in a trailer he tows behind his older-model Ford Bronco truck. He has no heat because he can’t afford to fill either of his trailer’s propane tanks, he said.

"I’m a homeless person at the moment," Vieira said.

It was his third year attending the Taunton Family Thanksgiving, and Vieira said he was thankful for a place to spend the holiday with other people.

"I go because I don’t have any family, and this is like family for me," Vieira said. "I find myself coming for a very well done meal. It’s not about charity. It’s for people who need to be around people."

The coordinator of the Taunton Family meal, Franciscan Sister Corline Cronan, said she wished she could help Vieira fill his propane tanks but gave him instead bundles of food donated and prepared by scores of volunteers.

Cronan has led the volunteer effort since its inception in 1978 and said the event has become so popular she had more volunteers this year than ever.

"They were falling over each other," she said, smiling and laughing. "It was crazy here today."

Volunteers prepared and served more than 600 pounds of turkey, 158 pounds of potatoes and 138 pounds of sweet potatoes, Cronan said.

"We had many people who donated for the first time," she said.

Two churches, Dighton Community Church and Baptist Church of All Nations, made donations for the first time this year, Cronan said.

Also for the first time, Taunton Family gave away books of gift certificates to the first 50 people to arrive for the all-you-can-eat meal.

One volunteer, 17-year-old Eliza Robles has been volunteering at Taunton Family for years.
"I probably was coming here since I was 13 or 14," she said. "It’s fun."

This year Robles worked as a server, filling people’s plates with yams.

"You get to talk to them too. You’re not just serving them food. You need to talk to them, so they know they’re not alone," she said.

Robles usually volunteers with just her mother, Christine Robles, but this year also came with her older sister, Alison Robles.

"I used to volunteer at the food pantry in high school. It’s awesome," Alison Robles said.

She said she liked working with the people so much she has already signed up with Sister Cronan to help at Taunton Family’s annual Christmas dinner.

"It’s good to give them their dignity," Alison Robles said.

Timothy Rose was a different kind of volunteer. First he ate his Thanksgiving meal, then he went into the kitchen to help with the dishes.

"This is a way to say thank you," Rose said. "I can’t give much. I’m not rich."

Rose said he had to leave his family for the morning to attend the event, but it was important for him to attend. He said he was bringing back a care package of food, a blanket and jacket for his brother.

"There was a time when I got mixed up with the wrong type of people. There was a darkness. A higher power took me back, and I wasn’t alone," Rose said.

John and Mary, a married couple who gave only their first names, attended the Taunton Family Thanksgiving for their fifth year.

John, a recovering alcoholic, was homeless for 20 years living in the streets of Philadelphia, Penn., while he was drinking.

"I had to surrender myself to God," John said.

He said he first heard of Taunton Family’s Thanksgiving meal, he didn’t have an understanding of what Thanksgiving meant.

"I was sitting at the soup kitchen with the homeless, and someone told me there was an event at Coyle and Cassidy, a turkey dinner," he said.

"I didn’t know what Thanksgiving was," John said. "Now, I do know what Thanksgiving is. It’s a gift from God."