How you can help
To make a tax-deductible donation to the Feast of Giving online, visit the Fox 45 Web site at www.daytons newssource.com and click on the Feast of Giving link. To make a donation by mail, send a check made payable to The Dayton Foundation and sent it to: Feast of Giving Fund, c/o The Dayton Foundation, 500 Kettering Tower, Dayton, OH 45423.
DAYTON — Chef and restaurant owner Art Smith has prepared dishes for presidents, governors and Oprah, but this Thanksgiving, he knows he’ll face a whole new culinary challenge.
Smith will help oversee the first “Feast of Giving” Thanksgiving Dinner that will replace the Beerman Annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner that ended in 2008 after 40 years. Organizers expect the event, to be held at the Dayton Convention Center, to draw as many as 8,000 to 10,000 people.
The largest number of diners Smith has cooked for previously was 2,000, but the chef made it clear he’s looking forward to the challenge.
“We’ll have a big team of people, and we are going to cook a lot of food,” Smith said. “I want people to feel comfortable coming back for seconds.”
Smith came to Dayton for the first time Monday, Nov. 2, to meet with other organizers of the event, including representatives of ABC 22/Fox 45, Dermatologists of Southwest Ohio and the Dayton Convention Center, at the television station’s studios.
Smith served for 10 years as Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef, has authored three cookbooks and currently oversees restaurants in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. He also, in 2003, founded Common Threads, a nonprofit organization that teaches children about diversity and tolerance through culture, food and art.
Ben Weprin of Chicago, who grew up in Dayton, is a consultant and business partner with Smith, and approached Smith about getting involved with the Dayton Feast of Giving effort, Smith said.
“He told me that this is something that is very important to the community, and asked me what I thought. “I said, ‘I’m in,’ ” Smith recalled. “I’ve been given many opportunities in my life, so I feel this is something I must do.”
Organizers say the Feast of Giving Thanksgiving dinner will become an annual event as the Beerman dinner was, and will provide a holiday meal to those who are homeless or needy and to those who otherwise would be spending the holiday alone.
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