Utah man planning Thanksgiving for 1K families in need

TAYLORSVILLE — Rob Adams lives in a modest home in Taylorsville. "It's not much, but it's enough," he said with a casual smile.

His home is more than Adams, who is a real estate agent, grew up with.

"I grew up in South Texas, in the Houston area, just very poor," he says. "We lived in the back of a pickup truck for a while, and we stayed at hotels once in a while because we didn't have a home."

Adams doesn't often share the fact that he grew up poor; in fact, he says his children don't know most of the details. "I had one pair of clothes I would wear all week, and then we would wash them on the weekend, and then I would wear them again the next week," said Adams.

Strangers often helped his family by bringing in meals or providing Christmas, he said. "I just think back on that and how grateful I am that my holidays were saved more than once by total strangers."

Last year, a friend invited him and his wife to help with a holiday meal donation, taking meals to struggling families in the days before Christmas. "We went and sat in the car and thought how blessed are we. So I wanted to do that this year for my kids," he said.

With the idea of helping 100 struggling families in Salt Lake County, Adams approached Nancy Ward, the coordinator for Education Support at the Jordan School District.

"He was so passionate about it that it got me excited," said Ward.

Ward spread the word about Adams' project, later named Thanksgiving Heroes, and found 1,000 families likely in need of a Thanksgiving meal.

"It ranges from people who don't have a place to live who are living with friends or family because of financial reasons, people who are getting ready to lose their homes, people who have maybe lost their job or hit a rough patch and are struggling," Ward said.

"I thought I would take food to homes that needed it, but a lot of these children don't even have homes and are homeless. When I heard that it really stirred my heart, it just reminded me of a being a boy and how great it was to get that help," said Adams.

With an overwhelming number of families needing a Thanksgiving meal, Adams approached Utah-based Fresh Market and Brian Simons at the store in Taylorsville. Simons has arranged to provide food to the Thanksgiving Heroes project at cost, and two semi-trucks to drop it off.

"To reach out and try to help support the community the way he's doing it and feed families that normally wouldn't have a nice Thanksgiving meal on their table, it's very heartwarming," said Simons.

Adams is now trying to raise the money to buy the food needed to feed 1,000 Thanksgiving meals, an overwhelming task for just one man. "It's going to take a lot of people to donate whatever they can," said Adams. A $60 donation will feed a family of five a Thanksgiving meal, plus leftovers.

The Jordan School District is also helping Adams by assembling volunteers, including teachers, administrators and students, to divide and deliver the food on Nov. 23.

"It's amazing what one person can do, and it's inspiring and a great opportunity to participate with Rob on this project," said Ward.

Adams said his mother, who passed away a few days ago, is the one who always encouraged and inspired him to help others, even when things were difficult in his life.

"I can be angry about being in a place like that or I could see these people's examples and their charity and want to push it forward as an adult," said Adams.

*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.Thanksgivings Heroes Flyer (1) by KSLcom

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