SAN ANTONIO — Some San Antonio children were able to get a special Thanksgiving meal.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House hosted its 16th annual Thanksgiving Feast for children from Roy Maas Youth Alternatives. For some of the speakers at the event, they have a personal connection to the organization, and have faced their own adversity as children.
For Ernest Jones—he vividly remembers his first thanksgiving feast at Ruth’s Chris Steak House.
At 15 years old, Ernest and his siblings were at Roy Maas Youth Alternatives.
“The chef who was from New Orleans, he danced with the turkey to a second line, and I thought this meal was for me and my family,” Jones recalls. He’s a board member with the organization now and says he was looking forward to seeing the kids react to the meal being served.
Turkey along with those delicious sides including mashed potatoes, stuffing and sweet potato casserole.
And while family is usually part of what completes a Thanksgiving meal—many of the children come from broken families, Jones says.
“What I think about right now is, forgiveness is key, right now they can’t control what’s going on in their life but they can control what they focus on”
The meal is meaningful to Lana Duke—owner of Ruth’s Chris Steak House franchises in San Antonio and Ontario.
“I’m enjoying giving back, I went through trials and tribulations and a lot of people helped me. It’s my turn to give back,” Duke said after having a photo shoot with the children
Duke was placed in foster care when she was a baby, then aged out of the foster care system.
She left for New Orleans on her own at 18 years old, opened her first Ruth’s Chris Steak House in San Antonio in 1993—and is a huge supporter of Roy Maas Youth Alternatives.
The group has provided services to runaway, homeless, abused, neglected, and trafficked children and youth.
The theme of this year’s message to the kids is resilience.
“I try to let them know be in charge of your life, and if you’re in charge, you go forward and you’ll do well,” Duke said.
Jones says resilience helped him—and can help others.
“What these kids have been through, what I’ve been through, you don’t understand what resilience is until you leave this place. All the pain and suffering you’ve been through, you use it as fuel to be successful,” Jones adds.