Community gathers to feed the homeless for Thanksgiving

COMMUNITY HELPERS: Pictured are just some of the many community volunteers who turned out to help feed the homeless a special Thanksgiving Day meal. Volunteering their time were (l-r) Emily Lopez, Sangeeta Verma, Mayor Allan Fung and his wife Barbara Ann Fenton and Dr. Tilak Verma.

GETTING DOWN TO DETAILS: Barbers from Details Barber Shop along with co-owner Manny Garcia are pictured giving haircuts to guests at the 7th Annual RI Dream Center Thanksgiving Dinner. Pictured are barbers Ty Lessar and Frankie Bianchi. (Not pictured from Details Barber Shop are barbers Christian Gamboa and Eric DaSilveira.)

The Cranston Herald · Wednesday, November 23, 2016 12:04 pm

By Meri R. Kennedy

Last Saturday, Nov. 20, a special Thanksgiving for the Homeless was held by the RI Dream Center at Praise Tabernacle Church on Park Ave. in Cranston. Guests of all ages enjoyed a full turkey dinner with all the fixings and dessert, haircuts by Detail Barber Shop and Avanti Dezigns, and clothes and personal products by the Mae Organization for the Homeless.

“Our chefs from The Thirsty Beaver, Milk Money, Drift and Say Cheese prepared food for the 7th year annual thanksgiving dinner for the homeless at Praise Tabernacle with The Rhode Island Dream Center,” said Ed Brady, co-owner of the participating restaurants.

Volunteers picked the men, women and children up in Kennedy Plaza in Providence and then dropped them back off where they are staying. Volunteers also cooked the Thanksgiving meal, greeted, served and helped clean up.

“We prepared food for over 300 people. We appreciate our friends from DePetrillo’s, Sonia’s Deli, Adeline’s, Tavern 12, The Santamaria family, Jimmy Burchfield, Campanella’s, Mayor Allan Fung and Paul Jalef with his students for also donating and preparing food for the cause. Zach Levesque and his company One Point Financial also co-sponsored food for the event for the second year in a row,” said Brady.