Luigi’s Pizza and We Care have teamed up to provide Thanksgiving Dinners Sunday, November 22nd between 5 and 8 to people who are homeless, veterans, homebound, or alone for the holiday until the food they have is gone. We Care and friends of We Care donated food. Luigi’s donated food and prepared the dinners.The two organizations are also planning to provide a Christmas dinner.
I met with the driving force behind the event Sandra Knox, Gregory Kirshy Sr. and Gregory Kirshy Jr. The event was put together spontaneously. Sandra represented the We Care charitable organization and had already started to collect food to give away. While visiting Luigi’s, she mentioned that she wanted to put something together for the people in need on Thanksgiving. Gregory Sr. stated that he “always wanted to feed the homeless on Thanksgiving.” From there this event was born. The younger Gregory Kirshy is two and was not very involved. Gregory Sr. said that “everyone was really receptive” to the idea. Some of the Luigi’s employee’s volunteered to help cook and deliver food to homebound individuals.
A number of local businesses got involved. When they were purchasing the turkeys, the Manager of Publix in Brooksville donated a turkey. Mike from KDM Supplies is donating togo containers, napkins, paper plates, plastic forks, serving utensils and cups for drinks. They are looking for more people who would like to be involved. If you’d like to take part, call Sandra’s cell phone 352-585-8631.
We Care is also doing a Christmas toy drive. To request that a child’s Christmas wishes are sponsored you need to private message Sandra Knox. The child’s identity will be kept private, they will post the child’s first name and the child’s request on facebook. To grant the child’s wish they need the name, age, clothing sizes, and wish list of the child. We Care usually keeps some toys in reserve for last minute requests.
If you want to help with the toy drive you can visit Luigi’s and drop off an unwrapped toy or select a child from the Angel tree. You select an angel from the tree and grant their Christmas wishes. You then bring back unwrapped toys in a bag with the child’s name on it to Luigi’s. If you would like to sponsor a child, call Sandra at 352-585-8631.
We Care is also working with other local businesses and groups to help people in need. Opinions Lounge will also have a toy drop off site and angel tree. Karma Couture and Wild Ivies
will be participating in a toy and food drive. The Abate of Florida Motorcycle Group will be doing a toy drive.
We Care giving goes on year round. They raise money for their charity through several fund raisers. They receive 10% of the proceeds from the concessions at two Talladega Nascar races. They raise money from yard sales throughout the year and through friends and facebook.
The We Care organization started three years ago and provides support to hardworking people in need. It is a 501c3 non-profit through the Stable Faith Cowboy Church. This allows donations to be tax deductible.
It is wonderful to see people truly getting into the holiday spirit. Too often we focus on all the bad things happening in the community and miss the inspirational things happening all around us.
We Care can be found on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/987916557902707 or you can call Sandra’s cell phone 352-585-8631. Luigi’s can be found on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Luigis-Pizza-144033865611976, called on the phone at 352-796-8700, or on the web at http://www.luigisonline.com/.