Annual Thanksgiving meal at Honda Center expected to serve thousands

How do you prepare a Thanksgiving meal for up to 15,000 people?

Well, you start with 600 turkeys, 3,000 pounds of potatoes, 1,500 pounds of mixed vegetables, 75 pounds of onions, a pallet of bread, 180 pounds of butter and 6,000 pumpkin and Dutch apple pies.

At least, that’s how you do it if you’re We Give Thanks, a nonprofit that will serve its 32nd annual free holiday meal on Thursday, Nov. 22, at Anaheim’s Honda Center, said Kevin Draper, a board member and volunteer.

Chopping, peeling and other prep work was set to begin Tuesday night, and a crew of volunteers will show up in the Honda Center parking lot at midnight Wednesday to build a kitchen and put out tables and chairs.

Anaheim restaurateur Frank Garcia started the meal more than three decades ago at his Mexican eatery, La Casa Garcia. It has grown from a few thousand holiday diners to, typically, two or three times that number.

Putting on such a large event now takes support from businesses including the Ducks, Sprouts and Wells Fargo, and 600 to 1,000 volunteers, but Draper said people love to help.

“I can assure you that I have people that consider this the best time of year” because they look forward to volunteering at the meal, he said.

While organizers are never sure exactly how many mouths they’ll have to feed, Draper said leftover prepared food is collected by social service groups and shared with those in need. Food scraps such as potato peelings and turkey carcasses go to Waste Not OC, which uses them to make soups and other meals.

Even as the Thanksgiving crowd for the event has grown, Draper said organizers try to stay true to the idea on which it was founded.

“Frank Garcia invites everybody. You don’t have to be broke or poor or homeless to come to our event,” he said.

“Everyone here is our guest.”

 

If you go

What: 32nd annual We Give Thanks meal

When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 22

Where: The Honda Center, 2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim

Cost: Free

Information: wegivethanksinc.org or 714-231-8418