Tynika Smith said she wants to make sure people who are homeless know they’re loved and someone cares about them.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Not everyone has a table to gather around on Thanksgiving because not everyone has a home.
“I just want them to feel involved and to know they’re cared for, regardless of what they’re going through or despite what people think. They’re still human,” said Tynika Smith.
On Thanksgiving and Christmas, Smith cooks for people who are homeless. This is her sixth year.
“If just I can shed a little bit of light and a few smiles that’s what I want to do,” Smith said.
If you’re wondering how this all started, it started out of love.
“I’m from Alabama there’s not a lot, you don’t see homelessness like this in Alabama, so seeing them, and I got to talking to them, and I’m like it’s not how they portray on the TV,” she said. “They’re no different, so having them have a warm meal like this on the actual holiday… it’s important.”
She prepared a lot of the food Wednesday night and then started cooking at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday. She cooked six turkeys, five hams, mashed potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, green beans, and stuffing.
Smith cooks it all by herself, but as word of her Thanksgiving tradition spread, people started to reach out asking how they could help.
Thanksgiving morning, a couple dropped off 100 homemade biscuits and apple cider. Other people made sweet treats.
Once everything is cooked, Smith assembles all of the plates in a pie pan with the help of family and friends.
She then drives to an encampment to deliver not only food but sleeping bags, blankets, coats, scarves, hats, mittens, handwarmers, emergency blankets and snack bags.
“I’m just excited to see everybody smiling, hot coco, hot cider, so yeah I’m just happy,” she said.
Smith hands out all the items alongside friends and family. If someone doesn’t get a pair of boots or a jacket and needs one, she’ll drive by the next day with one.
It’s not the typical way a family spends Thanksgiving, but her kids wouldn’t have it any other way.
“They’re old enough to know giving back is something that’s dear to my heart, and now there’s too because it instills in them to not look down on others, you know, you don’t know what someone’s going through and just because they’re homeless doesn’t mean they’re not like us,” Smith said.
She said she’s gotten to know the people who live at the encampments, particularly one in St. Paul, and now considers them family.
“Some of them are just lost, they lost their job, they had an accident, they fell and didn’t have nowhere to go living in their house, now they’re homeless, shelters are full, now they’re outside,” she said. “Being kind doesn’t cost anything.”
Every other week, Smith cooks a meal for 80 – 90 people and passes it out to people who are homeless.
Smith said she spends her own money in conjunction with donations and said people can reach out to her on Facebook if they would like to donate.
She said over the years her holiday meals have gotten bigger, and she doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.