After two-year break, Thanks-4-Giving meal returns to Modesto Centre Plaza
A Thanksgiving tradition returned to Modesto Centre Plaza after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic.
The Thanks-4-Giving holiday meal was expected to feed several hundred people Thursday afternoon at the downtown convention center. Diners would feast on a turkey dinner with all the fixings.
Modesto entrepreneur Dan Costa started the dinner in the early 1980s. The Costa Family Foundation pays for putting on the meal with help from donations from the community. Volunteers put the meal together, including prepping the food the night before, serving the diners and then cleaning up.
“It feels so good to do it again,” Dan Costa said Wednesday. “It’s been terrible to not be able to do it. It’s such a good feeling. We work hard all year, and we love giving back, and this is one of the nice ways to do it.”
The event also is a fundraiser for The Salvation Army, which helps with it. Costa solicits donations from the community for the fundraiser. The Costa Family Foundation matches those donations dollar for dollar. He said he expected to raise more than $100,000 for The Salvation Army’s Modesto Corps.
The number of people lined up outside the Centre Plaza around 11:45 a.m. was much lower than in previous years but those in line were grateful for a holiday meal. People would be let into the convention center starting at 1 p.m.
“I love the food,” said Kimmette Sudbury, 58, who said she’s been at the event every year for at least a decade, except for the last two when it was not held. “My favorite is all of it. I like all of it.”
The annual meal has drawn 800 to 1,000 people in previous years. But Salvation Army Maj. Harold Laubach did not expect that kind of turnout Thursday. “Two years without any in-person events,” he said, “we expected it to be a little low today.”
Laubach said any food that is not served will go to the two homeless shelters in The Salvation Army’s Berberian Center near downtown. He said the shelters have 393 beds.
Other people waiting in line said they appreciate how the volunteers serve them their meals and make them feel special.
That reflects Costa’s start in business in the restaurant industry. He opened his first Velvet Grill & Creamery in 1976 in Modesto. That eventually grew to a chain of 30 restaurants at its height. He no longer owns any of them.
His other ventures include buying Modesto-based outdoor clothing company Royal Robbins Inc. He then sold it and kept a small portion called 5.11 Tactical that made uniforms, clothing and other gear for law enforcement agencies.
He later sold 5.11 Tactical. Costa’s latest ventures include Kevin’s Natural Foods, which makes Paleo and Keto-certified entrees, sauces and seasoning blends.
