Despite uncertainties, 11th annual ‘Giving Back Day’ is on for Thanksgiving Day
By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV
After chatter in the community that the annual free Thanksgiving meal hosted by Kellen Leaf and Mike Sheridan (which fed close to 1,000 people last year) might not happen this year, the pair put the rumor to rest.
“We will have it this year,” Kellen Leaf told RealWV in an interview this past Thursday morning, referring to the annual free Thanksgiving meal she and Mike Sheridan coordinate annually.
“We were a little scared this year and considered not having the meal,” she shares.
“Not scared for ourselves,” Mike notes. “I was more discouraged by the impact it may have on our volunteers and the meal.”
Earlier this fall, the two received a number of communications they described as “hate mail.” They said some messages contained “thinly veiled threats” due to the pair’s political beliefs and political speech in reference to the Charlie Kirk assassination. All were similar in style and nature, they said, with some coming anonymously and some coming from people they knew and others from people they didn’t know.
“Will this hostility affect the Thanksgiving Dinner event?” they asked followers in a social media post on October 5, requesting folks who have volunteered at, donated to, or attended the meal in the past to share their thoughts.
“The feedback we received was strongly positive,” Mike says. “We were reassured. A lot of people are returning and some are planning to help for the first time.”
Last year, approximately 150 volunteers worked together to make the event possible. And they say it’s about more than just a meal.
“My parents were going to be alone one year on Thanksgiving,” Kellen recalls. “That’s why we started it. We didn’t want anyone to be alone on the holiday.”
“We have a former corporate CEO who washes dishes,” Kellen says with a chuckle. “The first year he came he did that for 8 hours!”
“Cindy Rowlands and Cathy Sawyer and us are the steering committee,” adds Mike. “Then we bring others in. Tt has had to become more structured over the years.”
“When it got to 500 people, I realized I can’t do this alone,” Kellen adds.
This year’s meal will be held in the West Virginia Building on the grounds of the WV State Fair. While folks are welcome to take carryout meals, Mike and Kellen always encourage people to dine-in if possible.
“We give priority to the people in the dining room,” says Mike. “If we can feed others with takeout meals or if we have volunteers to deliver, that’s great.”
Any groups ordering meals large numbers of meals, for nursing homes, for example, are asked to place their order with Kellen in advance this year.
“We’ve always kept politics out of the meal, and we will this year too,” says Mike.
“I don’t want to sit down to a nice dinner and talk about politics,” adds Kellen. “If people want to talk at tables, that’s fine. But we are not doing it as the people running it and we ask our volunteers not to. We want to focus on feeding people and providing a nice space for people to be together on Thanksgiving.”
‘More than one day’
But this effort isn’t just about feeding people one day. Mike and Kellen want to do more this year. They know one meal is a drop in the bucket of the food needs.
“We were sitting the other night reading the news,” Mike says. “We’re aware of the problem with SNAP.”
“In our own family,” Kellen adds.
“We know the food banks are stretched,” Mike says. “Is there anything we can do to feed kids every day not just one day?”
They reached out to Gloria Martin, the long-time organizer of the Lewisburg/Fairlea Food Pantry with that question. She told them all the food banks in the county were running low on food supplies and could use money to purchase more food.
“In three days, we’re collected $2,300 total out of our goal of $15,000 in a GoFundMe account” says Mike. “It will all go entirely to Gloria and she will share it with all the area food banks.”
Mike and Kellen see it as a means to raise awareness for ongoing hunger needs in the area.
“We encourage people to donate directly to their local food bank or blessing box,” Mike says. “The point of our GoFundMe is to raise awareness of the need and make it easy for people to give. GoFundMe takes 3% off the top, so if you prefer to save that money write out a check to the Lewisburg/Fairlea Food Locker.”
If you want to contribute, follow this link.
Want to help with the meal?
If community members want to volunteer, they are asked to contact Cathey Sawyer at 304-645-5401.
If you want to donate food, please contact When Pigs Fly BBQ at 304-249-8124.
The phone number for placing meal orders will be made available soon.
