Community Corner

Where to Get a Free Meal on Thanksgiving

By Bay City News Service and Patch staff — On a day known for copious amounts of food, many Bay Area residents struggling to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday will be able to eat a turkey dinner at no cost.

A number of Bay Area locations offer free meals to help families in need celebrate the holidays. Here are some of them:

In Mountain View, Ristorante Don Giovanni, 235 Castro St., owned by John Akkaya, has been serving a free Thanksgiving dinner at his restaurant in Burlingame and now in Mountain View for 24 years. Every year he gives away traditional turkey dinners between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., with lines often forming down the block. 

For the dinner, his restaurant workers volunteers their time as do students from St. Francis High School, who bring to diners of all economic status a meal of mash potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, stuffing and turkey.

Akkaya told Patch last year that they cooked up 126 turkeys to feed the nearly 1,500 people who dine there each year.

Glide Memorial in San Francisco is known for serving thousands for free breakfast and Thanksgiving dinner throughout Turkey Day.
 
  A 10 a.m. celebration will be held at the Glide Sanctuary, at 330 Ellis St. in San Francisco, with the Rev. Cecil Williams.

A Thanksgiving Dinner for seniors has been organized by the Peninsula Hills Women's Club for three decades.  Elderly residents without family to celebrate the holiday are welcome to join for a turkey dinner at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center at 1455 Madison Ave. in Redwood City. 

Do you know of other local places to get a free meal on Thanksgiving? Tell us in the comments and we'll add them to this story.


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