Donations, Volunteers Sought For Thanksgiving Feast At Sarasota Park

SARASOTA, FL — Organizers of a Thanksgiving community feast at Fredd Glossie Atkins Park in Sarasota are seeking volunteers, sponsors and donations ahead of the fourth annual event.

The Nov. 19 gathering offers a banquet-style meal, desserts by a pastry chef and entertainment from a DJ, as well as free haircuts from Mankind Barber Lounge, clothing and shoe giveaways, and free hygiene bags.

The event starts at 4 p.m. and goes “until whenever we run out of food,” Alaina Martinez, founder of the Leaders Rights Organization, which hosts the feast, told Patch. “Our goal every year is to not take anything home — and we never do. We serve until we’re literally scaping pots. It’s a scraping-pot event."

At least 300 people — if not more — are expected to come out for the meal, she said. They’ve consistently drawn hundreds of people since launching the event four years ago.

“We’re servicing everyone from homeless people, people in the community, people getting off the bus on their way home from work,” she said. “We’re serving the businesses — anybody and everybody.”

The event is about more than feeding people, Martinez added. “We’re building rapport and relationships and friendships. We don’t just serve them and that’s it; we sit and talk to people. It’s equivalent to being at my house, to being at my table. There’s a family vibe.”

Leaders Rights Organization also regularly feeds about 100 people each week at the park.

“Our main form of advertising is word of mouth and people knowing we’re consistent and reliable and also providing quality,” she said.

For the Thanksgiving event, the organization is in need of potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, elbow noodles, canned yams, marshmallows, turkey and ham.

They’ll accept unexpired canned food and non-perishable foods, as well as cash donations. Cash donations can be made on Venmo to @TheLeadersRightsORG and Cash App to $TheLeadersRightsOrg.

Sponsorships and other donations can be arranged by contacting Martinez at 941-580-8046.

She hopes to raise $1,200 for this year’s meal.

“That’s even with penny pinching,” she said. “We are self-funded. Everything comes out of our pocket unless we raise donations. Each year, it’s proving to be harder and harder to raise donations.”