This year, Everybody Eats is celebrating two decades of providing Thanksgiving Day meals for people living with food insecurity in Columbia. The program is continuing the legacy of founder Almeta Crayton, who died in 2013.
“She saw everybody as being a citizen of Columbia, and she wanted to have one day a few hours once a year where everybody came to the table together and nobody has to pay, and that’s really what this event is about,” said Janice Dawson-Threat, Volunteer Coordinator for the program.
Dawson-Threat states the event is more than just serving community members who can’t afford a Thanksgiving meal, it allows people to sit down and enjoy one another’s company.
The program creates baskets filled with all of the “fixins” of a Thanksgiving Day meal for members of the Columbia community who qualify financially. On Thanksgiving Day, everyone is invited for the main meal.
Baskets can be picked up this week at Russell Chapel on Ash Street from 2:30 to 6 p.m. The Thanksgiving Day meal will be held on Nov. 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Columbia Senior Center.
Dawson-Threat expects to feed between 600 and 800 people. Currently, "Everybody Eats" is still asking for more donations, specifically turkeys.
Donations can be made at Moser’s locations on Business Loop, King Street and Rangeline.