Hispanic groups extend a charitable hand

Several groups helped hand out food and warm clothes to day laborers. Most of the men are Hispanic and most of these charitable groups are Hispanic too. - - Donna Poisl

By Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer

STAMFORD -- There wasn't any turkey, stuffing or mashed potatoes under the shadow of the Interstate 95 underpass Saturday morning. No cranberry sauce and doting aunts and uncles or wine in a cardboard box.

Instead, more than 80 immigrant men, mostly from Guatemala and Ecuador, formed lines at the day laborer pick-up site at Lafayette and South State streets to collect Thanksgiving donations of winter hats, coats and sweaters.

Volunteers from Hispanic community groups passed out the clothing, as well as doughnuts, bread and hot drinks. A man with a bullhorn distributed Peruvian fruit cakes. A makeshift band, consisting of a guitarist, singers and a percussion player on the gourd-shaped Latin American guiro instrument, belted out "Besame Mucho," and other Spanish-language favorites.
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