2006年VOA标准英语-Volunteers Give Meaning to Thanksgiving

By Brian Padden
Washington, DC
22 November 2006
 
watch Thanksgiving Volunteer report

The American holiday of Thanksgiving began as a harvest celebration and is intended as a day for families to get together and reflect on their good fortune. For many today Thanksgiving means eating too much turkey, watching too much football and the beginning of the Christmas shopping season  

 
Thanksgiving volunteers prepare turkeys for the needy¹
This is the busiest week of the year at Food and Friends, an organization in Washington, DC, that provides meals to those with life threatening illnesses such as AIDS and cancer. 

The staff and volunteers here are preparing more than 3,500 Thanksgiving dinners complete with turkey, cranberry² sauce and potato salad. The cook says the feast will feed about 400 people.

 

 
Chef Vincent Muia
Chef Vincent Muia says every year preparing these elaborate Thanksgiving meals challenges the capacity of this volunteer food service operation. "The amount of food that we are purchasing, the amount that has to get done in three to four days, the amount of volunteers that are coming through here, the sheer volume of everything that is taking place to get Thursday done." 

To get Thursday done, Food and Friends relies on volunteers to prepare the meals, such as retired³ teacher Marlene Hoffman. "Because people need help and I got time."

And Debby Greenstein, who has been volunteering here for 13 years. "Aside from the fact that the mission's really important, providing nutrition to people who are sick is a way of either helping⁴ them get well. I just have a good time here and they've become part of my family and you get leftovers⁵."

These volunteers say they get a sense of satisfaction and a feeling of purpose from helping others.   Most of these volunteers do not see the people they help.  But Nancy Sahli does.  "There are people I deliver to, who know they are going to die." 

 
Nancy Salhi, volunteer, delivers Thanksgiving dinner
Nancy Sahli is retired from the federal government and has been making deliveries for Food and Friends for the last two years. 

"I think what you need to expect is not so much a frailty⁶ of condition but a real affirmation of the human spirit.   That's one of the things that really keeps me going in this the common humanity I have with each one of these people."

 

 
Mary Buck⁷
Today she is taking bringing a Thanksgiving meal to Mary Buck, who is too ill to leave her home. "I was in the cancer clinic, that's why I've been getting these meals from Food and Friends because I've been in the cancer clinic."

Charities in America, such as Food and Friends, see a surge of volunteerism during Thanksgiving.  They hope some volunteers, such as Nancy Salhi, will continue to give of themselves after the holidays end. 

1 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

2 cranberry   

n.梅果

参考例句：

• Turkey reminds me of cranberry sauce.火鸡让我想起梅果酱。
• Actually I prefer canned cranberry sauce.事实上我更喜欢罐装的梅果酱。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

6 frailty   

n.脆弱；意志薄弱

参考例句：

• Despite increasing physical frailty,he continued to write stories.尽管身体越来越虛弱，他仍然继续写小说。
• He paused and suddenly all the frailty and fatigue showed.他顿住了，虚弱与疲惫一下子显露出来。

7 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。