Restaurant Owner Delivers Holiday Dinners and Toys to 3,100

South suburban residents stepped up in a big way to help an Oak Lawn restaurant owner make Christmas a little brighter for neighbors in need.

Sandi Digangi, owner of Big Pappa’s Gyros at 10806 S. Cicero Ave., with the help of her three children, prepared and served more than 3,100 turkey dinners with all the trimmings on Christmas Day. They also handed out hundreds of toys to families with children.

Watch CBS 2 News Suzanne Le Mignot’s interview with Sandi Digangi.

By late morning, over 2,000 turkey dinners had already gone out the door, delivered to the homes of seniors, veterans, individuals and families facing financial hardship. A mother stopped by Big Pappa’s to pick up dinners for her family and the unexpected gift of toys for her children. The family could not afford Christmas this year due the hospitalization of one of the children.

Dorothy Sterling, who told Patch that she’s from “a lot of places” these days, rested in the restaurant with her dinner neatly wrapped before her. Dorothy is homeless, but is afraid to stay in the local overnight shelters. She stayed afterward to help clean up.

“I’m on a spiritual journey,” Dorothy said, sharing a photo she had taken with her cell phone of sun rays bursting through the clouds over downtown Chicago. “Not everyone can see the angels except for those who are spiritual.”

Digangi started the holiday dinners as a way to honor her late son, who was five years old when he died in a house fire in Bridgeport in 1995. An anonymous donor stepped forward to pay for her son’s funeral and ever since, DiGangi has used Christmas as a way of honoring her son’s memory and “paying forward” the good deed.

Donations streamed into Big Pappa’s since mid-December, with many area residents donating 230 turkeys and filling the restaurant’s video gaming room from floor to ceiling with toys.

“We are stunned and so grateful to the residents of Oak Lawn and the surrounding suburbs,” Digangi said. “We received over 200 turkeys and all will be cooked on Christmas day. We can’t thank those who came by the restaurant and dropped off food, toys and monetary donations.”

About 150 volunteers from the Oak Lawn area mashed potatoes, packed dinners, washed dishes and performed a multitude of other tasks.

DiGangi and her family have worked since the Sunday before Christmas to prepare food and orchestrate the logistics of delivering and distributing 3,100 dinners. DiGangi, and her life and business partner, Eddie Memeshi, got by on ten hours of sleep in five days.

The restaurant began what has evolved into an Oak Lawn holiday tradition in 2010, serving 750 dinners. This year, Big Pappa’s topped its own record with 3,100 requests for help with this Christmas.

At the end of the day, DiGangi posted on Big Pappa’s Gyros Facebook page:

“We are finally going home....we are proud to say we gave out over 3100 hundred free Christmas dinners today along with tons of toys … Thank you to everyone who came out and worked so hard! We had over 150 volunteers. .This year was a Huge success! Thank you !!”

Big Pappa’s Gyros has also asked Patch to thank the following individuals, organizations and local businesses who contributed in 2014:

Fairplay Foods

Grassano’s Pizza

Palermo’s

Jewel-Osco

St. Linus Men’s Club

Hamilton Partners

Mayor Sandra Bury

Oak Lawn Village Clerk Jane Quinlan

Oak Lawn Trustees Tim Desmond and Terry Vorderer

Village of Oak Lawn Green Team

Jimmy Richards

Bill and John Zawaski

Bud Stalker

Mary Kay Barton

Manny Davis

CBS 2

Photo captions:

1. The look on this young girl’s face says it all as restaurant owner Sandi Digangi gives her some unexpected toys for Christmas.
2. Restaurant owner Sandi Digangi (middle) with her daughters, Nicolette, 13, and Mikey, 16.
3. Sandi Digangi directs volunteer drivers at Big Pappa’s Gyros’s fifth annual Christmas charity dinner.
4. Nicolette Digangi checks a family’s order for complimentary turkey dinners.
5. Jimmy O’Keefe and Manny Davis, son of the late entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., were packing turkey dinners.
6. A happy little girl and her mom.
7. A big hug for Sandi Digangi.
8. “My 5-year-old daughter will love this.”