Author: Logan Gay
Published: 12:24 AM EST November 26, 2025
Updated: 12:24 AM EST November 26, 2025
Community Support Ahead of Thanksgiving
With Thanksgiving just almost here, an Indianapolis recovery center is working to make sure everyone in the community has a holiday meal.
INDIANAPOLIS — With Thanksgiving almost here, an Indianapolis recovery center wants to make sure everyone in the community has a holiday meal, while reminding the community that second chances are possible.
Alumni Giving Back Through Service
Outside Avenues Recovery Center, program alumni gathered Tuesday, Nov. 25 to hand out turkeys and other goodies during the center’s first-ever “Gobble and Go Turkey Giveaway."
Many of the volunteers once relied on the center themselves and say giving back is part of their healing.
“I’ve been battling addiction to alcohol for about six years,” Megan Butts said. “This was a turning point for me. This facility absolutely changed my life.”
Butts said she and other alumni feel grateful for the lives they rebuilt and wanted to share the same sense of hope with others.
“Once you hit a certain point in your recovery, it’s time to take all the blessings and fortuitous opportunities you’ve been given in your recovery and give back to the community,” Butts said.
Breaking Stigma & Building Community
For volunteers, the event was not just about providing food. It was about breaking a stigma and reminding neighbors that people in recovery are still part of the community.
Credit: WTHR
“It's also a time for us to show the community we are just people as well who fell on hard times, who were sick at one point,” Butts said. “And we’re still huge contributors to the community.”
Many alumni said they understand what it’s like to struggle.
“A lot of us can relate to being extremely down on hard times, not knowing where our next meal is coming from or where we’re going to lay our head,” Butts said.
Connection as a Foundation of Recovery
Alumni coordinator Justin Sears said that the sense of shared experience is what makes service so meaningful in recovery.
“We want people to know they can connect with a greater community,” Sears said. “That connection and our shared story is what lifts us up and it lifts up everybody.”
Volunteers say recovery doesn’t end when treatment concludes. For them, it begins with giving and grows with hope.
“You can turn a corner, you can come back from addiction and you can come back better than ever,” Butts said.
That's why they are thankful.
Credit: WTHR
Holiday Events & Support Resources
Avenues Recovery Center is also planning a holiday event called “Pie and Fly” on Dec. 22. More details on that and resources for support during the holidays and throughout the year at Avenues can be found here.