Institute of Rural Development board member Arnold Arguijo and Felix Gonzalez, a youth who helps at IRD, assist in handing out turkeys to some elderly residents. Thanksgiving has been a special day of giving thanks since the tradition began with the Pilgrims and was publicized in an early account description of the “First Thanksgiving” written by Edward Winslow in A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 1621.

The story is about the pilgrim’s meeting with the Wampanoag Indians in Plymouth and celebrating what probably was a good harvest that year. Throughout the world celebrations of giving thanks have probably occurred during times of relief.

In America, it is customary to follow a trend set more from belief than from what actually occurred in Plymouth. The Pilgrims were indeed celebrating a good harvest after a previous year of hunger and disease. It is not fully known why the Indians showed up or if they were even invited. One interesting aspect of the first Thanksgiving was that it did not include turkey since Winslow’s account does not mention turkeys. The assumption is that fowl in Winslow’s account probably meant seasonal duck or geese.

The feast did not include potatoes either since potatoes were not yet available to the colonists at that time. It wasn’t until the 19th century that Winslow’s account of that celebration in 1621 was publicized and the turkey and all the modern trimmings were added in the spirit of making it a memorable event. What we do know from Winslow’s letter is that a celebration of giving thanks probably did occur that winter in Plymouth.

Today we continue the celebration of giving thanks for what we do have and contemplate at the same time that no matter how bad we feel we may have it, we are still better off than others. In this spirit many people and organizations promote community meals during this time and some provide meals for those less fortunate and give thanks that we are able to do it.

This year the Institute of Rural Development, staff and Board of Directors, provided turkeys and trimmings to some elderly and families in Kleberg County in the spirit of Thanksgiving for some that are in need. The demographics of Kleberg County show that our elderly population numbers 5242, with 818 elderly in poverty. HHS poverty guidelines indicate that a person is in poverty if their income is $10,830 or less per annum. This means that a person age sixty or over that receives $902 per month or less is in poverty. The problem is that most elderly who are in poverty here receive less than half of $902 per month to live on, which is about $451. There are 8028 people in poverty in Kleberg County that have a household income of $10,830 or less to live on annually. For two individuals, the poverty rate is $14,570; for three individuals in a household, the poverty rate is $18,310; and for four individuals, it is $22,050. If you compare cost of living on average for one person at about $28752 to the poverty rate, the difference is significant and well below the standard of living. The per capita in Kleberg is $18,618 which is about $8000 more than the poverty level. Those that make between $10,830 and $25,000 are still below the cost of living index for Texas and these are called the “working poor.”

In Texas, the per capita is $27,752, which is above Kleberg’s per capita, but still under the average cost of living index. If we add the working poor to the poverty population there are about 13,000 people living below the cost of living index, which is over one third of our county population. Without a doubt there are people in need in Kleberg County.

At the Institute of Rural Development we strive to provide services for those most in need as we continue to work towards developing programs that benefit the less fortunate as well as all citizens. Hopefully, as we look towards 2010, we plan to work on better housing for the elderly poor, a better quality of life for foster youth that age out of care, and programs that provide substance abuse prevention for our youth.

On behalf of the Institute of Rural Development staff and Board of Directors, we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.