https://www.glwd.org/blog/our-40th-thanksgiving-2025/

John Varvatos, Board member Jonathan Raiola, Morgan Marcell, Christopher Gattelli, Mercy James, Nicolas Heller, Max Clayton, Thea and Joyce Varvatos, Tat, David Bando, Chef Curtis with staff and volunteers

11.27.25
/ Events

Our 40th: Thanksgiving 2025

By
Emmett Findley, Director of Marketing & Communications

Dear Community,

Thanks to you, today we celebrated Thanksgiving at God’s Love We Deliver with our clients and volunteers, having cooked and home-delivered 12,500 Thanksgiving meals to our clients, their families, and their guests! This celebration is the culmination of months of work and part of our year-round commitment to nourishing our neighbors living with serious illness. More than 1,000 volunteers helped us prepare and deliver these delicious meals right to our clients’ doors. Thank you for making Thanksgiving so special.

Our Thanksgiving feast

Our menu was extremely special this year – curated ton ourish and delight! This year’s Thanksgiving meal included: Smoky Winter Squash Soup inspired by Culinary Council member Mark Bittman; Roasted Turkey Breast with Turkey Gravy; Cornbread Stuffing; Sweet Potato Mash; Cranberry Sauce; Harvest Vegetable Blend with Peter Som’s Harvest Brussels sprouts (Brussels sprouts donated by Heermance Farm); and Crustless Pumpkin Pie with Graham Crumble.

L: Bruce and Cris Jaffe with Sous Chef Ryan Simpson and Major Gifts Officer Andria Ottley

M: Brian Hotaling and Executive Sous Chef Curtis

R: Kristel & Rob Lazarus

So many donors supported and sponsored our Thanksgiving meal. We were thrilled to have Kristel & Rob Lazarus; Price Jepsen & Dean Lewallen; Cris & Bruce Jaffe; Annie Chan; and Brian Hotaling stop by our kitchen to share why they support our Thanksgiving efforts and sponsor menu components.

Chef Ryan Simpson, President & CEO Terrence Meck, Culinary Council member Peter Som, and Heermance Farm's Camila Polo

We prepared Culinary Council member Peter Som’s Harvest Brussels recipe, and shared a cooking demo of this delicious side dish.

We were grateful to welcome Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet Tiler Peck and stars of the upcoming FX series “American Love Story” Grace Gummer and Sarah Pidgeon joined us for a volunteer shift.

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We also welcomed Board members Co-Chair Danielle Segal, Mark Brashear, David Djaha, David Terveen, Mike Meagher, Karen Naber, Jonathan Raiola, Jonathan Lau, Katy Williamson; Board of Trustees members Vicente Wolf, James Palazza, Greg Williamson; genLOVE Executive Committee member Sophie de Menil; Culinary Council members Natasha Pickowicz, Amanda Freitag, Peter Som, Heermance Farm, Margueritze Mescal; John Varvatos, Morgan Marcell, Christopher Gattelli, Desi Lydic, Mercy James, David Bando, Nicolas Heller (New York Nico), Miss New York USA Christiana DiNardo, Max Clayton, The Imperial Court, and so many others who contributed to the joy of the day.

Kitchen Scenes

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Image 1 of 22 Board of Trustees member Vicente Wolf, former President & CEO Karen Pearl, and volunteers

Image 2 of 22 Jim Shreve and Board member Mark Brashear

Image 3 of 22 Mercy James, Meghann Grimm, and David Bando

Image 4 of 22 Executive Sous Chef Curtis Wilson and Head Chef Dorothy

Image 5 of 22 Board member Jonathan Raiola and volunteer

Image 6 of 22 Kitchen staff

Image 7 of 22 Max Clayton, Morgan Marcell, and Christopher Gattelli

Image 8 of 22 President & CEO Terrence Meck, Miss New York USA Christiana DiNardo, and Chief Strategy & Growth Officer Eric Rochman

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See Thanksgiving morning production come to life in our behind-the-scenes photos.

Clients and their Thanks

L: Chokel

R: Richard with his wife and caregiver, Marie

L: Barbara with volunteer Dite

R: Dr. Fodor with Board of Trustees member Greg Williamson, Board of Directors member Katy Williamson, and their son

Our clients and their families let us know how much they enjoyed their meal.

Our client Barbara tells us,

“God’s Love We Deliver has been life-changing for me. Thank you for this wonderful Thanksgiving meal.”

Chokel, a Veteran on our CONNECTED program, shares,

“The military is my first family, but I consider God’s Love We Deliver my second family. I feel so connected and this Thanksgiving meal smells deliciouis!

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We welcomed delivery volunteers to twelve distribution centers across the boroughs. Actor and activist, Brooklyn’s own Rosie Perez delivered meals from our new meal fulfillment and delivery center, Liberty BKLYN in Sunset Park.

Vice President of Philanthropy Lauren Varner, Director of Marketing & Communications Emmett Findley, and Chloe Sevigny

Actor Chloe Sevigny delivered in SoHo to nearby clients with her family.

Deliveries Across the City

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Image 1 of 10 The Michael Kors Buliding in SoHo, Manhattan

Image 2 of 10 Liberty BKLYN in Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Image 3 of 10 Church of the Holy Apostles, Brooklyn

Image 4 of 10 College of Mt. St. Vincent, Bronx

Image 5 of 10 Blessed Sacrament Church, UWS, Manhattan

Image 6 of 10 St. Paul's Church, Jersey City, New Jersey

Image 7 of 10 Church on the Hill, Queens

Image 8 of 10 Hostos Community College, Bronx

Image 9 of 10 First United Methodist Church, Queens

Image 10 of 10 Concord Baptist Church, Brooklyn

Scroll through for a look at our delivery volunteers from across the City. Interested in joining us next year? Sign up to hear about 2026 volunteer opportunities.

Chief Strategy & Growth Officer Eric Rochman, President & CEO Terrence Meck, Congressman Dan Goldman, and Congressman's staff member

We are honored that our elected officials joined us across the City to help prepare, package, and distribute meals.. This year we welcomed Congressman Dan Goldman and staff members of the Manhattan Borough President’s office to our kitchen. In Queens we distributed meals to the District 32 community with Councilmember Joanna Ariola’s office. And in Brooklyn, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams packaged meals at Liberty BKLYN.

L: Bloomberg volunteers packing our gift totes

R: Volunteers packing our gift totes

We thank Board member Chef Melba Wilson for including us in our second annual 800-turkey giveaway to the residents of Harlem!

Our 2025 Thanksgiving celebration was made possible by Bruce Halpryn & Chas Riebe, Joanne & David Rodgers, Cris & Bruce Jaffe, Price Jepsen & Dean Lewallen, Brian Hotaling, Annie Chan in loving memory of Yin Chan, Kristel & Rob Lazarus in honor of the great Ranger humanitarian, Adam “Gravy” Graves, The Krumholz Foundation, Binn Family Foundation in loving memory of Penny Binn Binstock, L’Oréal USA & OUT@L’Oréal, Fekkai & Bastide, Bloomberg, L.P., and Bombas

Sponsor Holiday Meals for $10 Each
See our 2025 Press Recap
#amanda freitag #ASAP Ferg #Board of Directors #Celia Keenan-Bolger #Chloe Sevigny #Christopher Gattelli #Congressman Dan Goldman #Congressmember Joanna Ariola #Culinary Council #David Banda #Desi Lydic #Grace Gummer #Heermance Farm #holiday #Imperial Court #John Varvatos #Liberty BKLYN #Max Clayton #Melba Wilson #Mercy James #Miss New York USA Christiana DiNardo #Morgan Marcell #Natasha Pickowicz #New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams #NY1 #Peter Som #Rosie Perez #Sarah Pidgeon #thanksgiving #Tiler Peck #volunteer

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