Let's Pay It Forward

Have you ever been out for dinner or coffee and had someone surprise you and pick up the check for the whole table?  Or have you gone to a pot luck supper or
cocktail party and brought Swedish meatballs and found that that someone else showed up with five pounds of shrimp and cocktail sauce?   When it happened, did you think to yourself;“maybe I’ll be the one who treats next time?”  But then the opportunity never presented itself.

Well, that opportunity is now here.

For the past 23 years the Curtis Family has held a free Thanksgiving Dinner in Framingham  for any and all who have wished to attend.  Additionally,
they and their volunteers have delivered free meals to shut-ins who couldn’t get to the Eagles Hall on that very special day.

During the last two years the demand for Thanksgiving meals has
risen by 75%.  Thanks to the generosity of our wonderful community, last year we were able to raise enough to ensure there was a dinner for each of the of people lined up waiting on the sidewalk along Park Street for the next available seat. 

More than 2,000 people were served a hot holiday meal by volunteers that day!

This year we are anticipating an even greater need.  More and more individuals and families are hungry and fewer folks than in the past are in a financial position to help. 

In years past, there were several organizations which offered a free hot meal on Thanksgiving Day in Framingham.  For the last three years the Curtis Family have been the only ones able to do so—and that, in great part, has been due to community generosity.

If you are in a position to help, please consider making a donation towards the event.  In order to make your donations tax-deductible, The United Way of Tri-County has agreed, for the second year, to serve as fiscal agent at no fee, thus ensuring that 100% of all donations help feed your neighbors.

Checks should be made out to:  Curtis Dinner/United Way and can be dropped
off at the Framingham Eagles, or mailed to 6 Sullivan Terrace, Framingham,
MA  01701.  Credit card donations can also be made via the United Way’s Web site:  http://www.unitedwaytri-county.org/donate . The check off for the Curtis Dinner is on the bottom of the list.

Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that we still celebrate the way our forefathers intended. Sharing our good fortune with others on this day is a great way to honor the hardships they faced establishing this wonderful country.

I wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season.