A community coming together for Thanksgiving. Wednesday was the 53rd annual Grassroots Thanksgiving at the Elks Lodge in San Luis Obispo. It's a community-oriented dinner that provides food for hundreds of attendees.
"I think one of the greatest things you can celebrate is being grateful," said Peggy Fowler, executive director of Grassroots, the San Luis Obispo-based volunteer organization behind the event dedicated to helping residents.
Fowler has been helping to organize the Grassroots Thanksgiving event for over 50 years.
She says a lot goes into making these Thanksgiving meals, including two days of prep work.
"Nowadays, so many people are willing to share their Thanksgiving by coming here and making this meal," said Fowler. "It's all made by the community."
Fowler says she took over after the original founder, Maxine Lewis, died in 1988.
"This tradition began back in the early '70s and actually the late '60s," said Fowler. "Maxine Lewis was the community organizer for the city of San Luis Obispo and she knew people wouldn't have a free Thanksgiving dinner — or any Thanksgiving dinner at all — mostly because it was impractical for a Turkey dinner for one or two people. So she invited everybody to her home.
Fowler and her team tell KSBY it has grown a lot since then. Now they make around 2,000 meals for residents which some got to enjoy on Thanksgiving eve. The organization even makes home deliveries.
For those who come and take a meal, they say it's more about the community than the food.
"I enjoy these events because I run into people that I don't see often," said Julia Garza, a San Luis Obispo Resident.
These hot meals have all the Thanksgiving fixings.
"Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, they'll get a vegetable, dinner rolls, and pie," said Fowler.
Grassroots partners with other local groups to help make the event happen.
"It's a little bit of organized chaos, but it's like that every year," said Colin Jones, an Elks member volunteer. "I mean, we've got thousands of people coming by, dozens of volunteers, a lot of takeout, deliveries, dine-in — people coming and going. The turkeys were cooked over at California Men's Colony and delivered early this morning."
Fowler says this event has been a part of families for generations, both for the volunteers and the people coming for a meal.
