TD Garden’s philanthropic arm, Garden Neighborhood Charities, officially kicked off the holiday season this week with its 22nd annual Table of Friends dinner.
Volunteers from TD Garden, the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics and local government officials welcomed more than 1,000 guests from Boston’s homeless shelters to TD Garden’s arena floor for the meal, which was prepared by Delaware North’s Sportservice team at the arena. The traditional Thanksgiving spread included 700 pounds of turkey, 500 pounds of stuffing, 350 pounds of vegetables, 10 gallons of cranberry sauce and a 500-pound pumpkin pie.
Garden Neighborhood Charities also donated thousands of personal care items to guests at the dinner and to local homeless shelters. In addition, it made a gift of $5,000 to the Friends of Boston’s Homeless organization. That donation was earmarked toward the organization’s Housing Start-Up Fund, which provides support for homeless individuals as they move into permanent housing by providing critical initial housing costs and essential furnishings and household items.
Since the Table of Friends dinner began in 1995, Garden Neighborhood Charities has served more than 12,000 hot meals and donated more than $65,000 to help end homelessness in its community.
PHOTO CAPTION: Cutting into the 500-pound pumpkin pie that was prepared for Tuesday’s Table of Friends event are (from left) Charlie Jacobs, CEO of Delaware North’s Boston Holdings; Amy Latimer, president of TD Garden, Cam Neely, president of the Boston Bruins; and Attorney General Maura Healey.