ANNA MARIA – Approximately 400 free Thanksgiving meals were served during the “Let’s Give Thanks Together” community gathering held at The Center of Anna Maria Island on Thanksgiving Day.
Duncan Real Estate owner Darcie Duncan conceived and helped organize the hurricane-inspired community gathering and approximately 80 volunteers assisted with the cooking, meal service, decorating and event set-up and breakdown. The gathering took place in and around a large tent on The Center property.
“We served 300 pounds of turkey breast, 150 pounds of dark meat, 60 pies and countless side dishes,” Duncan said in the written statement she provided.
“We also paid local restaurants to make our side dishes to help those get back on their feet. Some restaurants still just wanted to donate and we appreciated that as well,” she added, noting that numerous silent financial and in-kind donors also helped cover the event costs.
The idea for a community gathering and Thanksgiving dinner came to Duncan on a Saturday morning in early October while she was watching the “College Game Day” college football pregame show.
“That is when I heard the first Christmas commercial and I said to myself, ‘It’s going to be Thanksgiving soon and many won’t have their kitchens and homes back together,’ and from there, this event came to life. My first call was to Chris Culhane at The Center. He said, ‘Why not?’ Then I started making some calls and the event came to life,” Duncan explained.
“I must give a huge shout out to Bethany Carter and Jenn Sayko. I could not have pulled this together without them, as well as the countless donors and volunteers,” Duncan said in her statement.
“To see all our neighbors and friends come together over a meal and be able to visit, share stories and talk about what they are going through while enjoying some music and beautiful weather. It was perfect; and truly the best gift ever!” she wrote.
The gathering also served as a food drive for the Food Bank of Manatee.
“Let’s Give Thanks Together” was sponsored by Duncan Real Estate, O’bricks Irish Pub & Martini Bar, Chateau 13, Anna Maria Oyster Bar, Duffy’s Tavern, gRub Tropical BBQ, Mermaid Pies, Graze Street AMI, Lola Wines/Gamble Creek Farms/Ed Chiles, The Mike Carter Family, US Foods, Sysco, Edward Don, Grooms Motors & Automotive, Barnes Walker, Whitney Patton Photography, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing and Tropicana.
