Cincinnati, OH – Gabriel's Place and several non-profit organizations hosted a Thanksgiving-sized meal for anyone who needed it Tuesday.
Potluck for the People welcomed any and all to the Avondale section of Cincinnati.
- Meal prepared by Chef Michael Vinegar and volunteers
- Turkey, potatoes, and desserts
- People could eat and take other food home
The regular event was moved to Gabriel's Place to allow for a bigger meal prepared by Gabriel's Place Chef Executive Michael Vinegar and several volunteers. Potluck for the People is regularly hosted by TRIIIBE and the Cincinnati Peace Movement.
“The experience we try to provide is a five-star experience here in the middle of a food desert,” Vinegar told Spectrum news 1. “Most of the people out here might not get a chance to experience such fine dining. We provide that to them for free. We have volunteers that come together and work together and help me cook everything. Today we partnered with TRIIIBE, they had a initiative called Potluck for the People and we said we might as well do them together.”
Gabriel's Place, 3618 Reading Road, is a non-profit organization that opened in 2011. The organization works to provide food and education to those in the Avondale neighborhood.
Since 2011, Gabriel's Place has grown more than 10,000 pounds of food in a garden behind its main building. They've served more than 3,200 meals and worked with hundreds of children in its Junior Chef and Agriculture program.
“The kids always run up, they are really hungry, “Vinegar said. “People really don't understand that kids out here have real life issues. They ain't bad kids, they are really hungry.”
Vinegar said Gabriel's Place works with kids to build trust and provide them a safe space.
Tuesday's meal was a chance for friends, family, and neighbors to share a meal together but also to bring in food for others to take. The meal included turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, cabbage, a variety of desserts, and several other foods.