Free Thanksgiving Feast Takes Place at Civic Auditorium

The annual Westside Thanksgiving Dinner & Celebration will provide free food to anyone hungry for turkey and fixings Thursday at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

The event, which was founded in 1982, goes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. In addition to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, volunteers provide children's entertainment, medical consultations, clothing distribution, haircuts and eye exams.

"This dinner is not just for people who are homeless, it's for anyone in the community who needs a place to come for dinner," co-founder and organizer Lori McCreary said. "We extend an invitation to anyone in Santa Monica and the surrounding areas to come and eat with us between 11 and 3."

The heavily attended festivities are funded completely by donations from individuals as well as local churches, schools, charitable organizations and businesses. 

Last year more than 1,200 volunteers served 2,500 meals, distributed tons of clothing and blankets, and also provided hundreds of haircuts, free medical consultations, hygiene kits and children's immunizations, according to the event's website.

Event organizer Dean Mellor estimated an expected turnout of more than 3,000 people. He said nearly 1,700 volunteers have signed on to help with all the cooking, set-up, clean-up and the many other tasks required to make such this large-scale event happen.

The Thanksgiving celebration brings "together an inter-faith collection of groups and individuals," the website states. "Students, singles, low-income families, seniors, and those who are homeless" are especially encouraged to attend.

"In Los Angeles it's very difficult to find a community, and we wanted to bring together people in our community on one day, and we chose Thanksgiving," McCreary said.

"I believe we are called to help our neighbors, I believe we are called to go the extra mile and we're called to serve the homeless, the downtrodden and the poor," Mellor said. "It's just an amazing blessing to me to see the ... volunteers ... who are taking time out from their family, friends and their lives—they could be doing a zillion other things—but there's something about helping other people and being together with your friends sharing meal and conversation. It gets to your core, why we're here on earth. We aren't here ... just to fight traffic and go back and forth to work."