ORLANDO, Fla. – Some families will save money on Thanksgiving dinner this year after receiving bags of free food on Monday.
The Orlando Magic, Platform Squared Foundation and Florida Blue collaborated to distribute 400 meals to underserved families for their Block Out Hunger Thanksgiving Celebration.
The meals included a turkey, rice, black beans, green beans, gravy stuffing, potatoes, dinner rolls and dessert.
Magic player Wendell Carter Jr. said the holidays are all about coming together. He helped pass out the food to the Central Florida families.
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Carter recognizes the strain that high grocery prices have put on people.
“Inflation is through the roof. It’s a small dent in what I can do for the community, but slow motion is better than no motion,” Carter said.
Tamayra Picon received one of the big bags of food. She also volunteered at the event.
Picon said she wants to ensure that other families get access to healthy food.
The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is slightly down from the record high last year.
In 2022, the average cost of a holiday feast for 10 was about $64. This year, it’s about $61, but this still isn’t low enough for some families.
Picon said the price increase of protein makes it more difficult to buy, which means fewer families are eating protein in their meals.
Tony Jenkins, Market President of Florida Blue, says this is why they wanted to assist this neighborhood.
“We want to make sure we were providing everything that people see and hear about for Thanksgiving,” Jenkins said.
Tamayra, her daughter, and the rest of her family will now have plenty of food this holiday — food she said would’ve been really difficult to buy all at once.
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