Family advertises Thanksgiving meal on Craigslist

LITTLETON - It's Sunday before Thanksgiving and Monique White is in her Littleton kitchen - counting.

"We've got seven turkey stuffing, four boxes of potatoes, 12 cans of vegetables, 60 rolls."

Thursday, White will have 32 people in her house for Thanksgiving dinner. Thirty two strangers who responded to White's ad, she posted on Craigslist.

"I was surprised that anybody even e-mailed me back," White said. "Yes, it was kind of overwhelming; we're just going to have to see how it goes. We couldn't turn anybody around."

White said since she posted the ad last Tuesday, where among other things she said, "We have three to four places still available," hundreds of people wrote back. Not everyone wants to come, people simply wrote to thank her for doing this.

"'I just wanted to say what an amazing thing you're doing,'" White read in one e-mail.

"'God bless you, not many people would open their homes to the less fortunate,'" read another.

"'I feel bad for accepting,' 'Hey, you're awesome,'" White said, "Because that's not why I'm doing it. I'm not doing it to be awesome, I'm doing it for their benefit. This isn't about me, trying to help somebody."

There will be six pumpkin pies and four turkeys on the table. Monique isn't sure how long she's going to be in her kitchen to make this meal happen.

But she knows why she's doing this.

"We were near homeless and in the past have year things have been turned around for us," she said. "I feel compelled to give back in some way, either through fellowship or through giving a meal, but some way."

White says this could be the beginning of a new tradition.

"I don't think this is going to be the last Thanksgiving we do this," she said.