St. Matthew’s House feeds record Thanksgiving crowd

NAPLES, Fla. — St. Matthew’s House fed a record 1,061 hot turkey dinners on Thanksgiving Day, on the heels of disturbing nearly 6,000 turkeys, sides and desserts to the community in their annual holiday campaign.

Staff and, for the first time since the pandemic, non-staff volunteers doled out dishes of turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie to those who came in for a filling Thanksgiving meal.

Those who stopped by included several families displaced by Hurricane Ian.

“I’m still traumatized by it,” said one survivor, Marisol Rios. “We’re here and I thank God that I came here today. This helps us for now.”

St. Matthew’s CEO Steve Brooder said they invited many nearby communities, including mobile home and RV communities that were hardest hit by Ian, to partake in the meal.