Seattle Basket Brigade puts turkeys on tables of formerly homeless families

Hayley Lucotch stood in line at the Creston Point Apartments in South Seattle with her young son, Tatum, to receive a free Thanksgiving basket, but it wasn't the first free food she'd received this Thanksgiving week.

Lucotch said she also received food from the Salvation Army but gave it away to a family who she believed needed the food more than she did.

And besides, she laughed, the Salvation Army basket had a chicken, not a turkey like the one at Creston Point.

"This is a big deal," she said of the food giveaway at her apartment building. "It's so nice they do this for people and we're totally alone."

She plans to cook a meal for about a half-dozen people who otherwise wouldn't have a Thanksgiving. "This makes us thankful for what we do have," she said.

Dozens of people lined up at Creston Point on Wednesday to receive food baskets stuffed by members of the Rainier Beach High School basketball team.

"We felt like we wanted to do something to give back," said Hikeem Stewart, a senior who lives in the Rainier Valley area.

His coach, Mike Bethea, said it's important for his players to be involved in their community. "I'm trying to teach them that instead of being thought of as basketball players, this is an opportunity to go out and take part in community events outside basketball."

The baskets were part of the Seattle Basket Brigade, which gives away Thanksgiving baskets every holiday. Last year, the Basket Brigade fed more than 4 million people around the world, said Les Berenson, who leads Seattle's efforts.

Last year the local brigade gave out 182 baskets. This year it grew to 330, which will feed 1,400 people. Berenson's organization raised $11,000 for the Thanksgiving program.

Attached to each basket is a card with the words, "This basket comes to you from people who care. All we ask is that you take care of yourself well enough to be able to do this for someone else one day."

The residents of Creston Point were almost looking at a Thanksgiving without any food.

The baskets were delivered earlier this week to all but Creston Point. The snow and slippery streets made it too difficult to get there.

So Berenson quickly put together Wednesday's gathering, working with an Albertson's store in Burien, the Urban Family Center, Seattle School Board member Betty Patu, and Virginia Owens, with the family support worker program in the Seattle School District.

"Thirty families were in desperate need of baskets, but weather prevented us from delivering them," said Owens. "The weather really was a hindrance, but it was the spirit of giving to make this work. It's been phenomenal."

Demonte Hinojoso just moved into Creston Point after being homeless for two years. "There's a lot more to be grateful for this year," he said as he picked up his basket.

Johnnie Burnes said the basket means having food on the table for him and his 12-year-old daughter, Latasha. "We'd have no Thanksgiving dinner without it," said Burnes, who said he was coming out of a homeless situation. "This is a really big help and I wouldn't make it without this. I'm going to put my turkey in the oven now."

Latasha had just one word: "Cool."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com