The Los Angeles Clippers hosted its 25th annual Thanksgiving “Teamwork at the Table” event in Venice on Tuesday.
The Clippers teamed up with Ralphs/Food 4 Less for the event at St. Joseph Center’s Bread and Roses Café at 204 Hampton Drive in Venice.
Starting the day at Bread and Roses Café (a unique, restaurant-style hot meal program for homeless men and women), members of the Clippers Executive Staff including President Andy Roeser, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Broadcasting Christian Howard, and four others served plates overflowing with turkey and all the fixings to homeless men and women. With the help of these Clippers front office staff and other volunteers, more than 150 homeless men and women received hot, fresh Thanksgiving meals throughout the morning.
In the afternoon, six Clippers’ players including Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, Clippers staff and volunteers — along with staff and volunteers from Ralphs/Food 4 Less who donated frozen turkeys and ingredients for a full Thanksgiving meal — distributed more than 400 frozen turkeys and food baskets with all the trimmings.
They also gave out clothing and books to the families, seniors, and other low-income clients who came to St. Joseph Center’s main service site in Venice for this special day.
Since 1988, the Clippers have brought “Teamwork at the Table” to St. Joseph Center every Thanksgiving.
The event is a special way for St. Joseph Center’s working poor and homeless clients to get ready for the holidays.
St. Joseph Center Executive Director Va Lecia Adams said the event was an incredible partnership.
“We are so grateful that the Clippers and Ralphs/Food 4 Less have maintained this amazing commitment for 25 years,” Adams said. “Their efforts help ensure that the homeless and low-income people we serve have a truly happy Thanksgiving.”
Now in its fourth decade of serving the Westside, St. Joseph Center is a non-profit social service agency that helps more than 6,000 working poor and homeless men, women, and children annually.
The Center provides clients with long-term services such as case management, job training and childcare, and meets immediate needs such as hunger, all in an effort to help them become productive, stable and self-supporting members of the community.
