"Feeding Hope this Thanksgiving with Food and Friends"

Impact on Families

Take Lánye Spicer, for example. Unexpectedly welcoming FOX 5 into her home, she shared her story. This is her first year working with Food and Friends. As she awaited a December appointment to learn about her cancer's status, she expressed gratitude for the service. "I thought it was a wonderful service to provide for people who are will because you just don't have the stamina to cook and do all the prep work and everything that goes into making a really good meal." Now, she can host and plan to have her daughter and a few others over for a Thanksgiving meal.

Food and Friends understands the importance of food as medicine. Their dietitian, Jennifer Krasilovsky, emphasized, "We medically tailor our meals to our – help our clients with whatever they're specifically dealing with. We also offer nutrition counseling. So there's real, so many different things to help." This personalized approach makes a significant difference in the lives of those they serve.

Volunteer Efforts

In Northeast DC, over 300 volunteers were busy preparing and boxing meals since 4 a.m. on Thursday morning and even before that. They prepared an array of delicious dishes including a roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, roasted potatoes, gravy, butternut soup, buttered corn, braised collards, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, fresh fruit, and dessert! Kevin Reese, a volunteer, shared his experience. "This is my seventh day straight, working and just being a part of the whole process. Starting last Sunday, we started cooking-off 800 – 900 turkeys. The ovens were on, basically 14-hours a day. And we did the sides for two weeks before that. In refrigerators that – there's so much stuff, they had to rent four refrigerators that are out in the parking lot holding all that stuff."

The main planning for these Thanksgiving meals begins in July. Food and Friends prepared 4,500 meals this year, ensuring that families in need have a special holiday. Their executive chef, Rasheed Abdurrahman, emphasized the significance. "Thanksgiving is my favorite part but, but you know, just being able to like provide meals for people in the communities so they can host their families, and I think that’s a big deal. When you're sick and you're not – you know, you can't – I know when I've been just a little sick, it's hard to get up and cook a whole meal for somebody but the fact that we can provide that for them."

Meeting Special Needs

Food and Friends helps clients with various needs. As Executive Director Carrie Stoltzfus explained, "If you're undergoing dialysis because you have kidney failure, you've got food restrictions that you need to follow and it could be difficult for the average person, like you and I, to figure that out. I couldn't tell you what is phosphorus if they need to watch their phosphorus so we do things like that, right, so it’s designed for their needs and we can take of folks who are experiencing nausea – just any different symptom or side effect or restriction."

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also stopped by to thank the volunteers for their selfless efforts. Their dedication in spending time away from their families to help others is truly inspiring.