Non-profit group brings 75 Thanksgiving meals, clothes and shoes to Santa Rita Park

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Uniting Arizona prepared and packed dozens of Thanksgiving meals and collected clothes and shoes bringing them to Santa Rita Park on Wednesday.

You might remember Crisann Black from Club Zeus, the special needs nightclub in Tucson. She’s the mom who created the club bringing hundreds of people together.

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Black also runs the non-profit, Uniting Arizona, that prepares meals and puts together care packages for Tucsonans experiencing homelessness.

To walk away with a Thanksgiving meal, but to also leave the group feeling seen and heard is Black’s goal.

“Some of the people that are out here I went to school with and so they're former classmates of mine and it's a harsh reality that I could be in their position very easily,” said Black.

Black and other volunteers prepared and packed 75 Thanksgiving meals.

“I love coming out to serve food on Thanksgiving, it was my dad's favorite holiday, his name was Billy. And it's the reason why I started Uniting Arizona was in his memory. He passed away while he was homeless. At the time, I was super young and so I didn't really have a good grasp on how to provide him with support or resources to help him overcome his addiction,” said Black.

Black said for some, this was their first meal in days, sometimes weeks.

Uniting Arizona also had buckets filled with clothes, shoes, blankets and jackets for people to pick out.

“Just to let these people know, they're not forgotten and to be able to make them feel like human,” said Larissa Barreda, a member of Uniting Arizona.

Even though the meals were for Thanksgiving, Black and her group try to come to the park weekly to remind people they’re cared for on every day of the year.

“I thank God for all of my blessings, but I recognize that if you're blessed with an abundance, it's your obligation to give back,” said Black.