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For nearly half a century, the Frank Veltri Thanksgiving Dinner has provided Charleston's neediest residents with the compassion, camaraderie and quality food - just as its namesake always strove to do.
Though he died in 2001, Veltri left behind a small fortune to continue the dinner each year, but the event also is made possible by the folks who have returned every Thanksgiving for decades to help prepare the meals that now feed more than 1,700 Charlestonians.
Carol Hodge first helped with the event in 1969 - three years after it first began - and made a promise to Veltri that she would come back every year as long as her health permitted.
"Mr. Veltri would give you the shirt off his back," she said. One of her duties over the decades was to help make the dressing according to Veltri's painstakingly detailed recipe.
"He didn't cut no corners," she said. "[His] philosophy was, you don't get in there and stir the dressing - you've got to get down elbow deep and mix it with your hands."
At nearly 70 years old, Hodge has arthritis and now oversees the dressing preparation. As she spoke Wednesday, veteran volunteers Chrissy Hovorka and Jodi Adams worked diligently at First Baptist Church on Shrewsbury Street to prepare more than 100 pounds of dressing for the meal.
"Don't ask us about calories," Hovorka joked. "That's a bad word on Thanksgiving Day."
At least 50 other volunteers helped put together nearly 1,500 meals that are delivered around the city to residents without a means to attend the dinner. Another 200 to 250 meals will be prepared for those who attend the meal, which begins at 11:30 a.m. today. Those who attend can also take food to go.
Those who knew Frank Veltri remember him as an unpretentious character who always had an unlit cigar in his mouth, and whose kindness matched his generosity. He owned the former Holley and Worthy hotels on Quarrier Street, and allowed scores of struggling people without permanent housing or nearby family to stay.
Judy Snyder, who's helped with the Veltri Thanksgiving Dinner since the early 1970s when she worked at the Holley Hotel, remembers Veltri as a benevolent employer who pushed her to excel.
"I started out as a maid, then he said, 'Judy, you're going to work the desk.' And I said, 'No, I'm not,' and he said, 'Yes, you are,' and we did that about six times [before] I finally said OK," she said.
Snyder also helped relocate about 130 people who were staying at the hotel after Veltri sold it. She recalls one instance when he saw two people sleeping in a car behind the hotel and told his staff to prepare a room for them.
Next year will be the 50th Veltri Thanksgiving Dinner. Hodge said the help from volunteers the day before the meal is essential to its annual success.
"Honey, once upon a time, everybody showed up on Thanksgiving Day to stand in line, get a spoon and say, 'I'm here,' and after it was over, they'd leave," Hodge said. "They'd forget about cleanup and forget about preparation."
The amount of food purchased for the meal is enough to feed a small army, with more than 800 pounds of ham, 80 turkey roasts, 360 pounds of green beans, 2,000 dinner rolls and 250 pies, to name a few. After his death, Veltri left behind a large endowment fund, managed by the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, to ensure that the dinners would continue.
But Hodge said those who attend the meal see it as more than just a free dinner.
"You can see the expression on people's faces that they really, truly appreciate what you have done for them," she said. "Maybe it's the only hot dinner they'll get this year."
Unlike Veltri, Hodge doesn't have money to give those in need, "but I can give my time," she said. "I feel like I can give back to the community, and this is the best I can do."
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.