Needing help - but still giving thanks

Shavon and Vince Scott stood in a line earlier this week to pick up their Thanksgiving turkey, gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce.

But for the first time, the Annapolis couple raising two young boys waited on the sidewalk in front of the Light House homeless shelter on West Street, rather than in a supermarket checkout aisle.

They were among nearly 180 families - almost twice as many as last year - who received a Thanksgiving food basket from the shelter.

The Scotts initially experienced the recession firsthand when Mrs. Scott lost her job at the county Department of Aging about seven months ago, she said. Since then,...