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17th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner Chicago Bulls

On November 17, 2019, the Chicago Bulls hosted their 17th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner at the Pacific Garden Mission Nonprofit organization. PGM has provided food, shelter, ministry, and rehabilitation services since 1877, and also hosted last year’s Thanksgiving Dinner.

One guest in the New Day program, which helps folks who struggle with addiction, shared his journey toward sobriety and his appreciation. The anonymous guest stated, “I had to change. I was out doing so many drugs that my child’s mother wouldn’t allow me to see my son, who is 7 months now. I didn’t do this for her at the end of her pregnancy, and one day my aunt came to me and she asked me would I like to go to rehab. I said let’s go.” She explained to him that the program at Pacific Garden Mission was in Chicago for 90 days, which was a concern because he was living in Wisconsin. “I just knew to be definite about it and say yes. The next week I came here, and in doing that I found out that I did good. I ended up giving myself something to be able to give my son. I will be 90 days sober come next Sunday on the 24.”

By providing this service on Thanksgiving, PGM and the Chicago Bulls revive hope in a community where circumstances can be blight and adverse. Another guest shared, “I think everything they’re doing is great to keep the city, like, hopeful about things. There’s a lot of bad stuff going on, but stuff like this could kind of give us a brighter horizon.”

I was able to speak with Chandler Hutchison and what it means to be a Bull lending a hand to folks who are less privileged at this time of the year. Hutchison said, “We are at the highest level of what we do, and a lot of things you take for granted in this career, and you know, it really humbles you coming out here to see people and how much it matters just that they have, you know, a warm meal and I never want to try to take that for granted, the opportunity that I have to use my time and energy to help somebody else or brighten their day, especially around the holidays”.

It is heartwarming to see the great work being done by the Chicago Bulls in the community firsthand, and folks are looking forward to keeping this Thanksgiving tradition at PGM alive.

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