On Thanksgiving both the Tamarac Kiwanis and the Key Club of Piper High School sponsored the Thanksgiving Holiday Orphan Meal (THOM) at the Tamarac Community Center where residents enjoyed a free Thanksgiving dinner surrounded by new friends.

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Photos by Kiwanis members Mary Brown and Juan Rayes from the event.

The idea behind the Thanksgiving Orphan meal, which was created by Lauderdale-by-the-Sea resident Eric Yankwitt is that you don’t spend Thanksgiving alone.  Originally created back 2005, this year THOM served 10,000 meals in 10 different locations in the Fort Lauderdale area including Tamarac.

This year was the first time that Tamarac has participated in the Thanksgiving Orphan meal, but Kiwanis President Barry Harris says that next year will be better.  “Next year we will have more advance notice and we will be able to get the word out to the residents.  We will also ask area supermarkets to participate and donate food as desserts which we didn’t have this year.  The Kiwanis want to make this an annual tradition and those that came this year are going to tell their friends about it for next year.”