FOR A GOOD CAUSE:Charities prepare for holidays

Some needy local families may have to settle for chicken on Thanksgiving Day this year.

Representatives from Share Our Selves, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit organization that helps indigent families, were waiting Tuesday to find out how many donated turkeys they would receive this year, so, in the meantime, volunteers handed out some of the nearly 8,000 pounds of frozen chicken they have stored.

“We don’t know how many turkeys we’ll be getting,” said Sheri Barrios, the director of emergency services for Share Our Selves.

The organization will find that out by the end of this week. But there are plenty of chickens to give away with typical Thanksgiving fare, such as pumpkin pie, potatoes and gravy.

The nonprofit offers food to the needy year-round, but the need grows during the holiday season, Barrios said.

“The three days before Thanksgiving we expect to give away 250 bags of food per day,” Barrios said.

The bags will include all the side dishes for a chicken or turkey dinner. The turkeys will be given to the large families, she said.

The organization’s pantry will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and the Friday after the holiday.

For a Thanksgiving Day feast, some folks can get their holiday meal at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach.

This year, as in the past five years, St. Andrews will serve dinner to about 100 men and women living in drug and alcohol recovery houses in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, said Laura Johnson, the church’s director of mission outreach.

Some come from Heritage House in Costa Mesa and others live at Teen Challenge in Santa Ana.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Newport Beach will pitch in by asking its congregation on Thanksgiving to donate money to Mercy House in Santa Ana, said Msgr. Lawrence Baird, who is the church’s pastor.

Mercy House provides housing and other services to the homeless in Orange County.

The church gives away food, clothing and other items throughout the year, but on Thanksgiving it donates money to Mercy House, Baird said.

St. Joachim Catholic Church in Costa Mesa also collects donations year-round, said Kathy Lewis, director of religious education.

Money and donated items, such as food, go to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which provides help to the needy.

“It does benefit the city of Costa Mesa because we talk to the poor every day and these are people that live in Costa Mesa,” Lewis said.

Representatives of churches, like St. Joachim that feed the needy during the holiday season, want to remind people that donations can be given throughout the year.

“We try to keep in the minds of those who donate that the need for donations is year-round,” Lewis said.