was about bringing people who have cared for so many others in our city together with our city hall, represent how much we love and support them in what they do every single day. we can't fathom sometimes some of the deep, deep frustration and sympathy that goes on on a daily basis when people are met up with folks that are hurt and are the victims of their need. but at least we can take a moment to thank them and to provide them with an opportunity to talk about what they're doing and how they can ask others who were helping to be successful in the city to help more people become successful in their own lives. with that, i'd like to introduce some speakers this morning who will talk about their attention to giving and to providing for others. and i'll begin with somebody who i really have come to love and work with as a city employee and who has penetrated

all of our wonderful bureaucracy to help open us up even more. that's, of course, our director of the red cross. harold. come on up, harold. (applause) >> now that i know i'm a city employee, i'm hoping for a big pay raise. [laughter] >> you know, any time you're in a room with ed lee, you know that there are going things going on. what a wonderful leader he is for the city of san francisco and the entire bay area. we're so very fortunate to have in this the best place on the planet, some of the best leaders on the planet, without any question. i got a call from joaquin torres saying ed lee wanted me to be part of this program. i told my wife, we'll start vacation later. [laughter] >> i am honored absolutely to be a part of this.

when i am in the room with janice and cecil williams and rita semmel, it's hard to get better than that. i mean, these are people who have shown us the way, how to lead, how to put that compassion to very good work. so, i am honored to be here to say i want to make sure that all of you support the season of giving. we are only able to do the things we do as the red cross back at super storm sandy because we have neighbors helping neighbors. we served about 160 people to help out with that terrible storm back east. and the words i'm getting back from our volunteers and staff is, this is a horrific disaster. we're learning many, many lessons that will be translated into, god forbid, anything that might happen here in the bay area. so, know that we are always going to help our neighbors because it's the right thing to

do. but it's also an opportunity to learn from the latest things that are happening around the country and the world so that we know when something happens here that, a, we're going to join up with our partners from catholic charities, salvation army, the city, the county, and make sure that people are going to be cared for in the best possible way. we are honored to be a part of this fabulous community, and know that we are in such good company with the people arrayed here in this room. so, mr. mayor, again, thanks so very much for the privilege of being a part of this with you. >> thank you. (applause) >> thank you. you know, harold, all of the employees that i'm hiring have to take a pay cut. [laughter] >> so, be prepared. you know, we often refer to our city as a world class city. we have world class parks,

world class restaurants. we have world class sports teams and events. people from all over the world come and they seek out this great, great city. we also want to make sure people know that we are developing world class hearts in our city. and i can't think of anyone other than a couple who has been working on this world class heart for many, many years, have i think one of the best representations of that. that's william and janice. thank you for being here. please say a few words. (applause) >> stay right there, be comfortable. >> okay, thank you very much, mr. mayor. ed lee is first class, no doubt about it. his perception, his understanding, his work ethics, what he does for this city is unbelievable. and he will continue to do

that. we know that. there's no doubt about it. the season of gifts is so critical because what we do is reach people that are unreachable many times. people that are in great need and we would be utterly surprised at how many folks we have in just our city that, that are hard to reach. but to get to them and to let them know that we care and that san francisco is the city that really cares is something that is very colt cal. -- critical. so, we feel very strong little that we are not only serving one of the most important directions in regards to reaching people, but also meeting the needs of people. none of us is immune from disaster. all of us could go through

disaster that would hurt even those of us who have. so, we're trying to put the haves and the have nots together so that in what we do, the gift of love and the gift of courage and the gift of understanding and the gift of meeting others, this is a diverse city and we need each other. it's so critical. so, thank you very much. this is the time for the season of giving, reaching out to everybody. >> thank you, thank you. (applause) >> i just want to say it's an honor to be among such a group of champions. living in a city of champions. and i think having a champion mayor is so critical. and a take on the team of the giants who said we're a team, we do it together, we cannot do it without each other. and in this season of giving, i think we should be reminded

that none of us can accomplish what we accomplish alone, and that we as a team can accomplish what we want to in terms of giving and in terms of sharing our resources. because of the season of giving, we have been able to house and to prevent homelessness for over 500 families and individuals with rental assistance and also they have -- this is a phenomenal, phenomenal effort. again, thank you, san francisco, for helping us be a real team that are world class champions. >> all right. (applause) >> in the past week we have been treated to a public dialogue about something called mvp. if i were to look back at this year and note for our city someone who has been very

special in working with me to create over 5,000 jobs for youth, i would send an mvp for eric mc donald the united way for bay area. he's been bold, he's been penetrating, and he knows, too, it isn't just about jobs. it's about caring for our youth and making sure the doors of opportunity are open. and now he's working with me and with the rest of the city on how to go beyond jobs because people who aren't ready for jobs will continue their habits that might end up in violence. and, so, he's helping me establish relationships on the ground level with everything from religious organizations outreaches, to community outreach. but, eric, today i want to thank you again for stepping up on behalf of both united way and all of the different organizations you represent and being part of the season of giving. come on up, eric. (applause) >> thank you, sir. so, thank you, mr. mayor. it's certainly a privilege to stand with you and the rest of my colleagues who are champions

and advocates in our community. in many respects it's such an exciting time here in san francisco. so many amazing things happening as we continue to build on this world class status that we have, from new business, big tech, new teams, and the like. and at the same time in many respects it's kind of a tale of two cities. while all of that amazing stuff is happening, at the same time reverend williams pointed out there are folks in need who are still challenged and struggling to meet basic needs of food and shelter and clothing. so, this is a wonderful time, especially in the season of thanksgiving. i would offer to be grateful for the opportunity to actually give back, to be grateful for the opportunity to help others who can't help themselves. so, certainly as united way has committed self to cutting poverty here in the bay area, we are proud to partner with the mayor and the rest of these, again, amazing individuals and organizations who are trying to ensure that we have a not just a safe net, but a strong safety net that enables folks to not only meet their basic needs, but then

begin to thrive. it's great that you can, again, find food for a day and find shelter for a day, but more important that you can find a path that leads you towards prosperity. and, so, we're thrilled to be here. i would challenge everyone, i could do three things. one, give what you can. two, advocate for those who don't have voice. and then three, volunteer as much time as you can to community and ensure folks can meet their basic needs. mr. mayor, thank you for having me here and helping in your leadership in this effort. (applause) >> all right. during the giants world series celebration, i ran into a lady that many of you might be familiar with. she during the giants game, she's up in the stands dancing and she's the dancing grandmother. rosalie alioto. and i had a chance to meet her. of course, i've got to tell my joke because i'm a jokester. so, the first thing i said to rosalie was, you know, i just want to let you know, because i'm going to keep saying it, i bet you you can run the bases faster than prince fielder.

[laughter] >> and make it around before buster posy gets you. is that's the respective for our seniors who are active and supporting us like rita semel and others who are helping so much reach out. and a person that i've just admired for so many years and had a chance for some years to represent her constituents when they had legal problems of evictions, and now it's about nutrition and about health and that's annie chung for the elderly who continues to be a voice for our seniors and joining in to say let's not forget those that promised we would have good housing, good nutrition, safety in our streets. allow them the respect that's due in their years forward. and we join everybody here today to make a commitment to our seniors that will be there to help you and never abandon

what years of sacrifice you had for our city. annie chung from self-help for the elderly. (applause) >> hello, everybody, and thank you, mayor, for leading the way to let our san franciscans know that the season of giving is also a season of miracles. i think those of us here in this room with you always feel that, oh, my god, that's not enough turkeys for the food bank, for the needy families and that's not enough food for the hungry seniors that come through our meal site at many of our social service agencies. but yet every time, every time around this year thanksgiving and christmas, we find very, very generous donors and check suddenly appear like mayor will be delivering 100 turkes, 150 turkeys to the school for that we are very thankful. mayor, we are celebrating thanksgiving with 3,000 of the

very low-income seniors in chinatown. and as of now i think that we got all the turkeys covered. thank you very much. [laughter] >> and the gratifying thing is we have a lot of volunteers this year. we have so many volunteers that we had to put a stop last friday and say, we have no more space to put you. so, i think that people feel that around thanksgiving and christmas is not just a time to spend with our own families, but really a time to give back to the community. so, i urge all of you to pass the word that there's a lot of needy elderly and youth and families in the community that is waiting for a little bit of assistance so that they're well on their way to leading a full and productive life. so, we need to all reach out and dig deeper into our own pockets and find the spare change that we can find this season and turn them into small and big miracles so that people that are in need will have a

wonderful thanksgiving and a wonderful christmas. and mayor, thank you for being our passionate leader. and every year gather us around this time to remind people holidays is not just about gift buying, but it's about gift-giving. thank you very, very much. (applause) >> see, as you can see in everybody's remarks, it's really moving to be part of the giving that all these organizations are part of. we'll be getting ready for thanksgiving. i'm excited that tomorrow i'll be carving turkeys at salvation army in st. anthony's and we'll be handing out turkeys to the needy at mission economic development group and the center for young women's development. and then i'll also be enjoying myself prepping meals for thanksgiving at glide memorial. so, we have thousands of people that got to be helped and served. again, we can't do it without

everybody's help. and i ask everyone, please have listen to the people here, you've seen their sacrifices. they are doing god's work. i want to make sure that we have the information given out to the rest of the public how to join in this wonderful effort, how to make san francisco the character of serving and sharing as it should always be. and, so, again, please call 311 or go to our websites. i direct you for all of that and for continuing this wonderful holiday spirit. but most importantly, for caring for each other. thank you very much and have a happy holiday. thank you. (applause) ...

>> it's just great to have each one of you here. all of the volunteers working so hard and all of our volunteers up here who will soon be working hard. and we just thank you for coming together to help the people who will receive these meals tomorrow morning. we're going to start with a word of prayer and then we're going to continue on. heavenly father, we just thank

you for this time and thank you for all the people who have come together today. and as we think about thanksgiving, we think about all the blessings that you've given to us. and we praise your name, lord, and we thank you for the opportunity that we have to give to other people during this time of the year. so, we just pray that you would bless this time together and pray these things in jesus' name, amen. >> amen. >> and now, ladies and gentlemen, i'd like to introduce to you our executive director [speaker not understood]. (applause) >> the salvation army san francisco center is a state licensed [speaker not understood] recovery program. at any given time upwards of 200 people are here on-site, go through the program and get their life back together. our residential capacity is 106 single adults with up to 30

families and up to 52 kids with those families. you're not likely to find many treatment programs with child care program and also a licensed detox facility, but we have them here. we are truly a place for new beginnings and we have been that place at this location for 40 years. all those years we've been celebrating thanksgiving with our friends. as evidence of our thanksgiving history, i have these photos. some of you have already recognized dianne finestein before she was mayor. she was on the board of supervisors, i think. even before that, the gentleman in the middle uniform there is my grandfather who was the executive director here before i was born. so, we've been doing this at least 50 years, a long time. it's become a tradition for us. but we're here for more than because of a tradition.

we're here to -- [inaudible]. because this gives us an opportunity to thank you for being here with us. gives us an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with you and do good to serve those who are most in need. today we finish our preparation. tomorrow a fleet of volunteer drivers help us deliver these 5100 meals. so, thank you again for being with us here today. thank you for your help throughout the year. thank you very much for your help throughout the 70 years. and now back to our mc. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. (applause) >> and we're going to whip right through this. so, it may look like a lot, but it's not. what we're doing mostly is introducing the people who are here today because without you we wouldn't be able to do any of this. we appreciate it so very much. so, first we're going to introduce some of our folks. the divisional officers and staff. we'll start with the divisional

commander who you've met, lieutenant colonel steve smith. give me one clap. (applause) >> very good. divisional secretary for program and metro coordinator major jack bird. (applause) >> faster, got to be there. harbor light center staff turkey carving producers, we have the harbor light strategic project coordinator who you've seen running around this morning, john mcknight. (applause) >> hey, that's better. from harbor light assistant youth director trey hillary. can't miss him. the tallest guy in the room. maybe second tallest. food service manager shawn bradley who is probably back in the kitchen. let's give it to shawn, right. assistant food manager, anna. all right. (applause) >> and our harbor light residents. [cheering and applauding] >> good, very good. the advisory board, advisory councilmembers who are with us today, harbor light advisory

council chairman jim ayers. right over there. (applause) >> harbor light and chinatown core advisory council lilly chin. hey, lilly. chairman of the salvation army metro advisory board and harbor light center advisory councilmember, you all know him, pete ratto. (applause) >> hey, pete. and introduce our volunteers and vips, san francisco city ask county, the honorable mayor ed lee. [cheering and applauding] * >> from the san francisco police department, the chief of course, greg. and the san francisco police department command staff. [cheering and applauding] >> the san francisco fire department. with chief joanne hayes white, san francisco fire department command staff. [cheering and applauding] >> we're not there yet. a little anxious. [laughter] >> where was i here?

united states army, deputy commanding officers of the pacific division, colonel petty stratford, senior officer staff. [cheering and applauding] >> san francisco heights president hu man services commission, commissioner scott kahn. (applause) >> okay, here we come now. san francisco fire department lieutenant bob arazave. (applause) >> san francisco fire department station 2 headed by lieutenant jay johnson. [cheering and applauding] >> and the firefighters from san francisco fire department station 2, let's hear it for them. (applause) >> now, did i miss anybody? college fire -- >> the city college fire captain. where is that person? fire academy. >> oh, the academy, we know about those guys. the fire academy, let's hear it guys and gals. (applause) >> very good. okay.

one big applause for all of those folks, please. [cheering and applauding] >> and now i'd like to invite the mayor himself who promises me he has taken some turkey carving courses this last year, please welcome the mayor of the city and county of san francisco, the honorable ed m. lee. >> thank you, terry. (applause) >> thank you very much, terry for the introduction again. thank you to salvation army and harbor light center. to know that over 5100 family will receive a great thanksgiving dinner because of your efforts here is remarkable. and i want to thank all the volunteers here from the chief of the fire and police departments to our men and women in the armed services, to our commissioners who are here today. all the volunteers from salvation army and their friends. it's a wonderful time of the year. it's one of my favorite times. as we kicked off the season of giving yesterday, as i call it

the season of giving, of caring and of sharing, because people in many of their own personal ways will help somebody else. it doesn't have to be money. it doesn't have to be resources, but ultimately it has to be care that we all want to share with each other. and we have a lot of needy people in the city and we constantly talk about it. we have concerns of other social safety net as our congress is on the fiscal cliff and we're all bracing for hopefully good things to happen, as they've been happening in our world class city. so, i want to again thank salvation army for helping us be the world class city that we are, giving ourselves the world class heart that we always have. so, happy thanksgiving, everybody, and let's get to these nude turkeys. [laughter] (applause) >> thank you very much, mr. mayor. and thank you so much for being here. you can carve while i do some

more talking here. if you'll pay attention to the marvelous things they're doing with the turkey carving. we have 6,000 pounds of turkey here, believe it or not, 1400 pounds of green beans, 1600 pounds of yams. it's been cooking for 4-1/2 days around the clock back in that lovely little kitchen of ours. and all that work did not disrupt the usual activities, 360 meals, 400 sandwiches for homeless people. they're still baking the brownies cakes and cookies. 300 delivery routes, 500 volunteers, 6100 meals to seniors and shut-ins. the meal, roasted turkey with stuffing, gravy, yams, apple sauce, cookies and hot cocoa mix. we want to especially thank our

many donors especially the aaa folks who donated 50 28-pound turkey plus aaa maps for our delivery volunteers. 15 pounds of coffee with cups. and our photographer donate his time and talent today. and it is due now. and then we're going to have some photo ops as you can see. it feels like hollywood around here. terrific. and i'd like to be a little self-serving and promote another part of the organization i'm involved in. the salvation army annual celebrity bell ringing on union square is going to be on december 7th from 10:00 till 2:00. and we have wonderful entertainment including beatles tribute band and a rolling stones tribute band. and the list goes on. but in the meantime we're carving our wonderful turkeys

here and we have this feeling of fellowship and thanksgiving comes tomorrow and it goes into full bloom. thank you for your generosity and your time. that was the quickest program you'll ever hear from the blessing to the closing words. the closing words does not mean you have to leave. you can keep on carving. but i'd like to invite roger mccourt and the harbor lights, the officer and he's going to do our closing prayer. >> let's say closing prayer. i promise i'll be quick. don't close your eyes. father god, thank you so much for all of the people you have

sent to help out and thank you for giving us the resources and the ability to help all of these people who are in need. watch over all of the volunteers as they carve this turkey and watch over all the people delivering all 6100 meals tomorrow. thanks gets to their destination. we sd it in jesus' name, amen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪