HONOLULU (KHON2) — Thanksgiving came early for residents of homeless shelters across Oahu.
Hawaii’s Marcus Mariota’s Motiv8 Foundation partnered with Ruby Tuesday Hawaii for their 10th Giving Thanks event.
Ruby Tuesday Hawaii held the annual event on Thursday where they cooked 800 pounds of turkey and all the fixings at their two locations.
The food was distributed to IHS, River of Life, Surfing the Nations, Waianae Boat Harbor, and the Veterans Center.
In addition, food for furry friends was distributed to the Hawaii Humane Society and SPCA. Reports said 1,000 pounds of dog and cat food was donated on Wednesday.
This is the sixth year for Mariota’s Motiv8 Foundation to sponsor the event. Hansen Food Distributors was another major donor.
“I talked to them a few months ago and asked them if they still wanted to do this,” said Rick Nakashima, Ruby Tuesday Hawaii owner and CEO. “Everyone was ready to just keep going, keep serving as much food as we have in the past. So it’s really a testimony to all the hard work they do.”
Nakashima said they started cooking two days ago and the team started at 3 a.m. today to make sure the food was distributed by lunchtime.