There was much to be thankful for at the Thames River Family Program. As part of its community outreach the Connecticut Sun (its staff, player Brooke Wyckoff, Coach Thibault, Coach Hawk, Blaze and family) brought an early Thanksgiving dinner to some new friends.
The Thames River Family Program (TRFP) is a two year transitional living program for single moms and their children. Families come to TRFP from shelters and other homeless situations. Many have experienced domestic violence, substance abuse and chronic instability. The program gives its residents a stable environment while it helps them to find a job and a new place to live.
Before dinner, everyone in the room took turns saying what it was that they were thankful for. Many were thankful for family, the food, their health and their friends. Coach T was thankful for (among other things) basketball because it has brought him many opportunities including the honor of having dinner with the residents of TRFP.
It wasn’t quite time for dinner yet. First, two of the kids had poems to read about Thanksgiving. One last thing before dinner, a song! The song went like this:
Turkey Dinner 
(tune: Frere Jaques)
Turkey Dinner, Turkey Dinner
Gather round, gather round
Who will eat the drumstick
Yummy, yummy drumstick
All sit down, all sit down
Cornbread muffins, Chestnut stuffing
Puddin' pie, one foot high
All of us were thinner
Until we came to dinner
Me-oh-my, me-oh-my
Twenty-four resident families, including thirty-nine kids, enjoyed a sumptuous meal prepared by Mohegan Sun chefs including stuffing, salad, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, veggies, mashed potatoes, pies, cookies and of course TURKEY!.
Just when everyone was thinking about a second helping of pie, Sun mascot Blaze came by to visit. Blaze and forward Brooke Wyckoff teamed up to take Polaroid pictures with all of the resident children while others played games.
When it was time for everyone to go home, the kids collected some Connecticut Sun goodies and some leftover cookies and went off to bedtime.
Thank-You, TRFP, we enjoyed sharing Thanksgiving with you!
To volunteer or donate to the Thames River Family Program, Call 887.3288 or write to: Thames River Family Program, 1 Thames River Place, Norwich, CT 06360.
Check out the related article in the Norwich Bulletin.
