"Thankful Thursday" Promising 100 Free Thanksgiving Meals

West Alabama Wholesale is hosting a community-wide event promising to give 100 free thanksgiving meals away to deserving families.

Dubbed "Thankful Thursday," the car dealership is partnering with The Harris & Richey Team at Farmers Insurance to provided boxes of full Thanksgiving meals to 100 families in need in the Tuscaloosa area.

"This is all about helping our community get through a pandemic," said Tre Lanier, a spokesperson for the dealership. "We want to show that West Alabama Wholesale can be a lot more than just a car dealership."

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Lanier's own organization, Men of Integrity, is funding 50 boxes, with the dealership funding another 25, and Farmers funding the last 25.

The boxes are specifically going towards individuals and families who have signed up at West Alabama Wholesale and qualified for the program. Any person over the age of 65, any single parents with more than two children, and any families that make less than $15 an hour automatically qualify.

Thursday, November 11, West Alabama Wholesale is hosting a canned food drive alongside Thankful Thursday to help spread awareness of the event, and draw crowds to donate more food.

The event will also feature music and food from Aw Shucks and Coco Crab, who will donate a portion of their proceeds to the event.

"I'm spreading awareness everywhere I can," Lanier said. "We need help with some things... We're asking people to donate turkeys, because many places have doubled the price since last year."

As of right now, Lanier said 78 boxes have been assigned, but those still looking to sign up can do so by visiting West Alabama Wholesale.

"Next week, we'll be going into overdrive," he said. "We're not trying to turn anyone away, we'll need to probably start giving the rest of the boxes out on a daily basis as we approach thanksgiving."

The event starts at 11 a.m. and the food vendors will be there all day. Aw Shucks and Coco Crab will be at the dealership from 11 to 4:30 p.m., at which point Simone's Kitchen will take over for the evening. Lanier said people can contact him at 205-233-5740 for more information.