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Touching Thanksgiving giveaway tradition passes to new generation

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Published  November 28, 2024 5:54pm CST
Holidays
FOX 9

Thanksgiving tradition passes to new generation

A Twin Cities tradition feeds thousands of people on Thanksgiving every year, and it has now extended to a new generation. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the full story.

The Brief

    • A Twin Cities family tradition is to deliver meals to people in need, driving around to hand them out at places where they know people are hungry.
    • Dorothy and Bob Casper, who owned restaurants, started the giveaway in 1983.
    • In 2024, they gave out about 5500 meal boxes with turkey and sides, plus pumpkin pie.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Twin Cities tradition feeds thousands of people on Thanksgiving every year, and it has now extended to a new generation.

Family tradition

Nancy Schille and her family are carrying a heavy load, but it gets lighter every time they see someone on the street.

They come equipped with a full meal deal for Thanksgiving.

The family has run restaurants for decades, so this is high quality turkey and potatoes.

And it arrives out of the blue, a true surprise for unhoused people in the Twin Cities.

It’s a family tradition to drive around to places where they know they’ll find hungry people.

"There isn't Thanksgiving without it," said Nancy's daughter, Katie Schille.

The giveaway dates back to 1983, when Nancy’s mom, Dorothy Casper, had some unusual pillow talk with her husband, Bob.

"She rolled over in bed and said, 'Bob, we've been so blessed. What can we do to give back to our community?' Nancy recalls. "And he chuckled and he says, 'Well, we're only closed one day at our restaurant.'"

Dorothy and Bob have passed on, but Nancy’s brothers still run a family restaurant that hosts Thanksgiving dinners.

Community help

They make most of the food, the turkey and the mashed potatoes at the family restaurant — Casper's in Eagan. But the finishing touches are done at the Church of Saint Joseph's in West Saint Paul. And that includes the gravy.

In the end, they go through more than 500 turkeys and thousands of pounds of potatoes to fill out 5,500 meal boxes.

The church hands out a lot of them and hospitals are also on the schedule for the four delivery teams.

But hundreds of meals go out in the streets, where some of the recipients told say they wouldn’t have eaten otherwise.

So the boxes have a big impact.

"I'm thankful for this food," said a recipient identified as Mr. Gordon.

But the Casper family feels like they’re the lucky ones.

"My brothers and then these volunteers that come every year, we, I think, really get maybe even more on this than anybody," Nancy Schille said. "Even the people receiving it, they're very happy and grateful. But it's such a wonderful thing to be able to do. I guess we're all grateful."

42 years worth of reasons to give thanks.