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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For many American families, Thanksgiving is a day to feast on traditional holiday fare in the company of friends and loved ones.</p><p>For hundreds of area volunteers, the day starts off by making sure less fortunate strangers even have hot food to eat for the holiday.</p><p>As it has done for a quarter century, the Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO) on Thursday delivered more than 850 hot Thanksgiving meals to individuals and families in Luzerne and Wyoming counties.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s basically for anybody who&#8217;s homebound,&#8221; said Rick Kutz, director of CEO&#8217;s Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank.</p><p>&#8220;Many are seniors in apartment buildings&#8221; Kutz added. &#8220;They may be alone, but also some are families in households where someone is disabled.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Seeing the need</strong></p><p>One of those volunteers was Rich Piccolotti, whose day job gives him added perspective on the yearly effort: He is a CEO employee.</p><p>&#8220;I work in the weatherization department, so we go to a lot of individuals&#8217; homes and do some repairs that are necessary to reduce their energy costs,&#8221; Piccolotti said. &#8220;I get to be in the homes of a lot of these individuals, so I understand the need, I see it every day.&#8221;</p><p>That need was addressed by a number community organizations Thursday, including St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen in Wilkes-Barre, which served a Thanksgiving meal, as well as other churches.</p><p>For CEO, the holiday meal delivery is just one of its programs to tackle food insecurity at the holidays and year-round.</p><p>Now in its 39th year, CEO&#8217;s &#8220;Thanksgiving Project&#8221; saw more than 400,000 pounds of food delivered to more than 7,000 families this year, including the necessary items for a holiday feast &#8212; canned and dry goods as well as turkeys.</p><p><strong>Hot meal planning</strong></p><p>CEO&#8217;s Thanksgiving Day hot meal delivery project, meanwhile, dates back about 25 years, Kutz said, and requires much advance preparation.</p><p>&#8220;We began the registration back in October, but all of the ordering of product started in September,&#8221; he explained.</p><p>Planning literally takes &#8220;up until the last minute,&#8221; Kutz added.</p><p>On a Thanksgiving when early morning temperatures hovered in the low teens, Kutz&#8217;s day began at a frosty 4:30 a.m.</p><p>&#8220;I had to go up to the warehouse in Pittston and bring product down, offload and go to another location in Wilkes-Barre,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was very cold this morning.&#8221;</p><p>The kitchen at First Presbyterian Church, where volunteers heated and packed the food, was a steamy hive of activity, from the clanking of ladles to the rustle of bags to the stomping of feet as meals were lugged down the steps into cars and vans.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s like an assembly-line process,&#8221; Piccolotti said from a corner of the gymnasium where the final bagging took place.</p><p>Last year, he served as the volunteer coordinator. This year, together with sons Gianni, 6, and Ginno, 9, &#8220;I&#8217;m really just trying to help wherever I&#8217;m needed,&#8221; said Piccolotti.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re part of the packing process,&#8221; he added. &#8220;You just help fill the voids wherever needed and help keep this running as smooth as possible, help get our volunteers out on the road and get these individuals fed today.&#8221;</p><p>Gianni nodded in agreement.</p><p>&#8220;I love it,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;I bring my boys and my wife usually comes, but she happens to be working today,&#8221; his dad added.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a good tradition for families, and I see it every year now &#8212; a lot of people coming down and making this part of their Thanksgiving tradition,&#8221; Piccolotti said.</p><p><strong>&#8216;Beautiful to watch&#8217;</strong></p><p>Among those families on Thursday were Zyannah Gonzalez and sister Leilanni Leon, both 13, together with cousin Stephanie Girardi, 8.</p><p>&#8220;We help every year. It&#8217;s just a really fun thing,&#8221; Leon said. &#8220;Our parents bring us.&#8221;</p><p>Sure, they get to have a special breakfast, followed later in the day by a family dinner. But the girls also see the greater good.</p><p>&#8220;The best part is when you deliver it and see people&#8217;s faces, they appreciate it so much,&#8221; Leon said.</p><p>&#8220;And it&#8217;s so beautiful to watch,&#8221; Gonzalez added.</p><p>While the tradition may be over for another year, the community&#8217;s needs are not, Kutz pointed out, and CEO can still use donations.</p><p>They can be made via the group&#8217;s website, <a href="http://www.ceopeoplehelpingpeople.org" target="_blank">www.ceopeoplehelpingpeople.org</a>.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112318CEOThanksgiving_1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sam Shannon, of Pittston, prepares a turkey as he joins dozens of other volunteers in the kitchen of First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre as they prepare Thanksgiving meals for the homebound on Thursday morning. The hot meal delivery is an annual program organized by the Commission on Economic Opportunity. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112318CEOThanksgiving_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sam Shannon, of Pittston, prepares a turkey as he joins dozens of other volunteers in the kitchen of First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre as they prepare Thanksgiving meals for the homebound on Thursday morning. The hot meal delivery is an annual program organized by the Commission on Economic Opportunity. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112318CEOThanksgiving_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Randy Czuba, of Plymouth, right, hands cartons of milk to Davida Brannigan, 12, of Plains Township, and Logan Shrader, 9, of Mountain Top, as they assemble Thanksgiving meal delivery packages for the homebound at First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112318CEOThanksgiving_3-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Randy Czuba, of Plymouth, right, hands cartons of milk to Davida Brannigan, 12, of Plains Township, and Logan Shrader, 9, of Mountain Top, as they assemble Thanksgiving meal delivery packages for the homebound at First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday morning. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112318CEOThanksgiving_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Karen Dougher, of Pittston, left, and Ann Marie Arnone, of Dallas, prepare stuffing with dozens of other volunteers in the kitchen of First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre as they prepare Thanksgiving meals for the homebound on Thursday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112318CEOThanksgiving_2-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Karen Dougher, of Pittston, left, and Ann Marie Arnone, of Dallas, prepare stuffing with dozens of other volunteers in the kitchen of First Presbyterian Church in Wilkes-Barre as they prepare Thanksgiving meals for the homebound on Thursday morning. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Annual effort serves up hot holiday meals for hundreds</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Roger DuPuis</p><p>rdupuis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Volunteers serve up hot holiday meals for hundreds in Luzerne, Wyoming counties