WHEELING — By Wednesday afternoon, the temperature had started to drop, the wind whipping around Wheeling’s homeless encampment making it feel even colder. But for dozens of people who had camped in that area, there was a warm meal to enjoy on Thanksgiving Eve.

Dean Barath of Ideal Provisions Food Truck and Catering parked his vehicle at the encampment’s entrance. Along with son Isaac Barath and friend Duane Ray, they passed out aluminum containers filled with Thanksgiving food. The aluminum allowed those eating to reheat their dinners over a campfire without worrying about the container melting.

Barath said he has been handing out meals, and sometimes clothes and other items, around the holidays for more than a decade, for as long as Ideal Provisions has been around.

“It’s more about t

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