Do you think it is tough preparing Thanksgiving dinner for your whole family?
A group of volunteers in East Stuart prepared meals for more than 100 people Wednesday night to make sure their community got a Thanksgiving feast.
The Building Bridges for Youth organization provides mentorship for children, a safe place to go after school and the guarantee to go home with dinner.
Their community dinner didn’t only benefit their mentees, but anyone else in the East Stuart community wanting a warm meal, or a place to celebrate the season.
“I think it’s great,” said Tony Royal. He used to live in East Stuart. “There’s always a need for a hot meal, whether you have food at home or not.”
“We’ve probably fed over 100 [people],” said Tia Queen, a mentor at Building Bridges. “I’m the one who is here three to four days a week helping with homework and making sure the kids eat.”
Andrea Ford volunteered and dished out meals. Her daughter goes to Building Bridges several times per week.
“She can come here and love gets poured into her,” Ford said.
Giving out meals helped her get into the holiday spirit.
“It’s to give love and to give back,” Ford said.
Green said Stuart nonprofit Elev8hope donated Thanksgiving baskets to hand out to people who came for a meal. The baskets were filled with Thanksgiving essentials so families could continue to celebrate on Thanksgiving day at their homes.