Thousands of adults and children will have turkey and all the trimmings on the table this Thanksgiving because of the kindness of their neighbors.

On Saturday, families began lining up at 7:30 a.m. for Thankgiving boxes that Berean Christian Church was giving away at 11 a.m.

They came from down the street in Stone Mountain and Lithonia, from across town in Decatur and Ellenwood, and from as far away as Gwinnett County seeking a little help to provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal for their families on Thursday.

In October, 481,980 Georgians, or 10.2 percent of the state’s workforce, were unemployed. That slight rise in the state’s unemployment rate, from September’s 10.1 percent, matched the national unemployment rate of 10.2 percent for the first time in two years.

County statistics were not available for October at press time, but in September, 40,790 people, or 10.7 percent of DeKalb’s workforce, were unemployed.

State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond said the recession will not end for the thousands of jobless Georgians until more employers start hiring again. “Georgia’s public and private leaders must work together to develop a bi-partisan recovery strategy that focuses on three critical elements – protecting vulnerable citizens, including children, the elderly, and the sick; preserving our health, safety and educational institutions; and encouraging economic development and job creation,” he said.

In the meantime, people who are unemployed have to make do to keep food on the table and roofs over their heads.

As the nation sits down to its 388th Thanksgiving Day observance, individuals, students, churches, civic and community groups have been stepping forward to help fill in the gap.

Columbia High School students prepared and served turkey dinners to about 400 homeless people who were bused to the school on Saturday by two local churches.

Robin Thomas of Stone Mountain, who has been unemployed for months, made her way to the Kerwin B. Lee Family Life Center on Young Road to get one of the 1,000 Thanksgiving boxes that Berean members prepared with help from other area churches and a host of other partners.

The laid-off telemarketer for a home improvement company was so grateful for the help that she broke down in tears while telling a visitor about the year she has had.

“I went from making $88,000 a year to nothing,” Thomas said. “I lost everything. We’ve hit the bottom of the bucket.”

Her story was echoed by other families leaving with boxes packed with stuffing and cornbread, green beans and yams to go with the frozen turkeys in plastic bags.

Some said they have been out of work for a year or more.

Thomas, who said she has lived out of her car most of the time this year, said she and her two daughters – including 25-year-old Crystal, who is paralyzed from the waist down after a stroke – and two grandkids live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment right now.

“It keeps us out of the rain,” she said. “It keeps us out of the cold. We are going to make it.

We’ve got love. That’s what keeps us together.”

Vickie Anderson of Decatur still has a job as a cook at Canby Lane Elementary School in Decatur, but her $1,000 a month salary doesn’t go far for her and her 15-year-old daughter.

“I appreciate the help so much,” she said.

On Thanksgiving Day, she is cooking dinner for six people.

When she got back to her car in the Berean parking lot, there was a puddle of antifreeze on the ground.

“Oh no,” she said. “The car is leaking again. I got to get the car fixed again. Lots of stuff going on, but I still feel blessed.”

Barbara Martin, a mother of three youth ages 12 to 17 years old, called her Thanksgiving box “something excellent.”

“Words cannot explain what they have done today,” said Martin who came all the way from Norcross. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

The industrial sewing machine operator said she lost the job she had for 12 years in February because of lack of work.

“I am trying to pay my rent this month,” she said. “I greatly appreciate the help.”